The Story of Mobius
by Chris000
Summary: 2190, mankind needs a way to reach the stars. Matthew Mobius, has created the first Warpgate and plans to use it to colonize a new world. The colonists find themselves in a world unknown though when they cross through and must start all over again.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

The Story of Mobius

A Prequel by Chris000

Chapter 1: Prologue 

Earth 2190 CE

1045 years before the current date…

Matthew Mobius was a bright young man. At age 12 he had constructed a miniature particle collider that won him first place in a local science fair. At age 15 he had successfully applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a PhD in Quantum Mechanics, Astrophysics, Computer Engineering, and Geneology. At age 21, he delivered a idea for a interstellar warpgate. He entitled it, the "_Mobius Gateway_".

He presented his design to a highly respected astrophysicist of the United Nations Space Command Office of Naval Intelligence, or ONI for short. After much deliberation for about 3 years about the design, Matthew was awarded a grant to continue research on the gate, seeing as it was deemed 'possible' by the ONI spooks. Now 27, Matthew oversaw the construction in space just outside the moon's gravitational pull. He stood on the catwalk of a space station patiently waiting for the day his childhood dreams came true.

Matthew stared at a window. Just a few hundred thousand kilometers away stood his warpgate. The tip of his thought and possibly humanity's best hope for colonizing the outer systems. He mulled silently in his head that the two Japanese Astrophysicists Shaw and Fujikawa were working on their own Faster Than Light travel. However, at the pace Mobius was working, he would complete the warpgate much sooner than the other two scientists. It was going to be better, stronger, faster. It used accelerated neutrinos and dark matter to rip a hole in two simultaneous locations using the power of microscopic black holes barely wider than a pinhead that ripped matter apart, reassembled it at an accelerated pace in transit, disassembled it again, then reassembled it once more and ejected it through white holes at the end. Pure brilliance. Of course, resources to build a second gate would be used to construct a second gate at the other end.

The door behind Matthew opened. Matthew spun around to see who entered. I was an ensign by the name of Patricia Aaron. "What can I do for you, ensign?" The doctor asked. "Admiral Fredrikton wants to see you in his office on Deck 12." Mobius nodded. He always had his eye on Aaron ever since the project started. She was quite beautiful. Her red hair was shoulder length and she had dazzling blue eyes. Matthew decided to get on task and go see the Admiral. He took another look at the nearly completed ring and turned and entered the elevator.

Mobius punched in Deck 12 and felt the elevator go up. He felt the gravitational rush as it left him and then returned. In the center of the space station the UNSC had something absolutely nobody knew about: a miniature gravity generator. This was a major scientific breakthrough. It was commissioned by Section 0 of ONI. There were strict penalties for leaking information about this. Whenever a new operative was seated in the desk at ONI's educational facilities, the first thing they were told about this was 'any leak in intelligence that is discovered by the Office of Naval intelligence carries the punishment of execution.' No questions asked. Matthew exhaled. Even in the 22nd century mankind has still carried on with its dictatorship. Why couldn't people look more to discovery and knowledge and less towards conflict that ends in violence and several billion dollars lost every now and then? He then thought that unfortunately, some conflicts couldn't be solved, and war was unfortunately the last resort. He thought back to the Frieden and Koslovic war a few decades back, how drastic situations have been between the UN and the Neo-Communists.

He didn't get to think much of it since the elevator pinged and the door opened. Up ahead, he saw that the door automatically opened. Fredrikson had been expecting him. He took a few steps and walked into the Admiral's quarters on the station. It had fine oak paneling and pictures of sea ships lining the walls. The _Monitor_, the _Dreadnought_, the _Bluenose_, and the USS _Enterprise_. All fine vessels of Earth's oceans. Now it was time for Mankind to explore the vastness of the ocean of space.

"Doctor, I've been expecting you." came a voice. Admiral Fredrikson walked into the room from a side-passage. He was buttoning up his uniform, which suggested he was returning to duty. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Matthew asked. "Yes, I did. Sit down, son." Mobius did as ordered and made himself comfortable, relishing the silkiness of Martian fibers in the seat and back. "I wanted to talk to you about test flights. The time has come to give this baby a spin. The gate itself is already completed and we want to see if she's in fit sate to transport one all the wires and things are connected."

Mobius thought about it for a heartbeat. "Sir, with respect, how do you plan to do that?" Fredrikson told him. "The UNSC is short on cash. Ever since the whole Jovian Moons Campaign ended a little while ago, we've been spending every single dollar getting our fleet back to being the best in the solar system." Matthew's eyes darted back and forth. "Are you suggesting an unmanned flight?" The admiral shrugged. "More or less. We're thinking of starting by sending electrical signals or wavelengths through the gate to see if it will transmit them somewhere else. We've targeted a sector where habitable planets may be. We certainly have a few reports of one or two. However we have no idea how far away they will be from your drop-off point." Mobius thought about this for a few seconds. What happens if it doesn't work?" Fredrikson leaned back and sighed. "Then we'll have to scrap the entire project." Mobius gave a slight, joking smile. "Well, that's no pressure for me then." Fredrikson gave a small laugh. "Right, no pressure. Well doc, I guess this is where all those long years of work will be tested."


	2. Chapter 2: Where No Man Has Gone Before

Chapter 2: Where No Man Has Gone Before 

Earth Orbit

August 13th 2190

Matthew Mobius stood on the same catwalk he stood on every day for the last 2 years. The gigantic glass window revealed to him his lovingly made warpgate floating in the void of space slowly pulsing with blue energy. Admiral Fredrikson stood beside him wearing a black dress uniform with four stars on his shoulder. He also wore the traditional Naval Admiralty cap every one of the rank wore with gold rimming and four stars on the brim. "So Matt," he asked the young doctor, "ready to make history?" Matthew gave a big smile. "Always ready, sir. Always ready."

Fredrikson activated the comm. unit and said, "Release the drone." And a voice responded, "Aye, sir. Drone released. Ready for further commands." A small cone appeared below their pane of glass. The cone was a small, unmanned robot that would travel through the gate. A few weeks before, they experimented with different signals. To their surprise, they were relayed to a different location and didn't come out the other end. It was a big accomplishment that encouraged them to move up the development of the warpgate drone.

Since the government didn't have enough money to build anything fancy which included cameras, and complex data processors. Just as well, the tiny craft would probably be outside the range of communications and video feed. So, they could only work with the basic method: 'Toss it in and see if it comes out the other end'. The small drone in question was named _Mobius 1_ since it was designed and built by the doctor and the UNSC's best techs under Section Zero's jurisdiction. At just 250,000 kilometers from the gate, the probe activated its impulse engines rocketing forward. It reached the gateway in ten short minutes.

"This is it, Doc." Fredrikson whispered to him. When the drone crossed the threshold, it was swallowed up by a burst of white light. Mobius almost jumped for joy, but contained his excitement for a few more seconds. "Can you confirm that the drone has gone through the gate?" Ensign Aaron checked a scanner. "Confirmed. It's gone."

Fredrikson was smiling. "We did it, Mobius! That gate of yours works!" The Doctor was smiling ear to ear. He eagerly shook the admiral's hand. "So what happens now?" Matthew asked the Navy man. "We gather up colonists. Take a gene census from everyone on Earth and see who has the best genetic makeup to survive in space. One million colonists should be sufficient." The young man was overwhelmed with emotion. He felt small tears well up in his eyes. "I just can't believe it. All those years of work, we actually did it." Fredrikson put a hand on Mobius' shoulder. "Well, lets not let this be forgotten. I think a celebration's in order."

Matthew went back to his apartment on Earth. He lived in the Greater Chicago Industrial Area just off of Michigan Avenue. When he got inside he quickly turned on the TV. The Global News Network snapped on. "This is GNN reporting to you this fine night. I'm John Cowell and we're putting news first." The man on TV shuffled his papers. "Breaking news today: American doctor Matthew Mobius has perfected the Mobius Warpgate: Mankind's first hope for colonizing the galaxy. The gate is in orbit around the Mare Tranquilite Lunar settlement. There was a short video showing the camera swooping around the gate. Matthew couldn't look upon it with anything other than awe, happiness and a slight bit of smugness. Somewhere in Japan, Shaw and Fujikawa were drinking their brains out at Happy Hour cursing Mobius' name for all eternity.

"Also, the United Nations has put out a genetic census. All citizens are encouraged to apply for a chance to be one of the million colonists to cross over the gate to colonize the new worlds to be found. A gene test can be taken at your local clinic or hospital. Now, we move on to our sports news stating with the frustrating loss of the New York City Mets…" Mobius clicked off the TV. He sat down on the couch. He glanced around and sighed, a little sad. These would be the last few days he may see his homeworld. The last few days he would go down to the bar and have his last Earth Budweiser with his friends before spending God-knows how long on a colony ship bound for parts unknown. He stood up and walked to the window. Chicago was alive tonight. Cars were in the streets honking loudly as the traffic light broke. There was a party going on in the next building and the Chihuahua named Jose next door was barking loudly at the noise. He was going to miss it all.

Two days later, Mobius was strapped into an acceleration seat in a shuttle bound for one of the ten colony ships in orbit. Thousands of shuttles went carrying hundreds of colonists selected from the gene census to partake in the event. The terminal at O'Hare airport was filled with family and friends bidding farewell to their loved ones that were leaving. Matthew was sad to see a father kiss his wife and young child who was sad to see his daddy leave. A voice came from his right. "It's tough to let someone go." It was a young man with brown hair and green eyes. "Name's Donny Vennettilli." He held out his hand. "Matthew Mobius." The doctor said back. "_You're_ Matthew Mobius? Get out! Oh man, what an honor, sir." Matthew smiled. He had fans now; oh boy, this could either be a gift or a curse. Matthew decided he liked the young man and struck up a conversation. "Did you leave anyone behind?" Donny nodded, "Yeah, my dad. My mom died of cancer three years ago." "Oh, I'm sorry." Matthew recoiled slightly. "Don't worry about it. She knew it was coming. Was real brave about it too."

After five minutes of a continuous line of passengers, the door sealed. A voice sounded. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Shuttle SL-324, our destination today is the colony ship _Enterprise_, one of the ten ships of such that will be accompanying us on your journey; We kindly request that you keep yourself fastened in as we exit the atmosphere and please do not resist the G forces. Congratulations to all of you for passing the gene census and welcome aboard Project Mobius." Donny gave Matthew a side-glance and a small smile. Matthew smiled back. Nobody else on the shuttle seemed to recognize Matthew with his longer-than-usual goatee and side burns.

The engines of the shuttle activated and the craft rose. Outside, hundreds of identical craft lifted off with them. Suddenly the main engines ignited and they shot through the air. Some men and women had never been into space before and were experiencing "G Sickness" when the high gravitational forces got the better of the organs. Some people turned greed and others swayed in their as far as the straps permitted. Donny however, was unfazed. "I was a junior astronaut." He said before Matthew asked. "We went on trips to the moon and back. I'm used to this sort of action."

The outside stated to get dark. Stars appeared and Earth fell away. Many people looked at the sapphire ball and some had looks of longing and homesickness. The colony ships were about a hundred thousand kilometers distant. All ten of them were illuminated by Sol. The closest to them was the _Enterprise_. She was very long, over a kilometer in length and held everything that would keep them alive for close to twenty years out of cryogenic sleep. One of the launch bays opened silently in space. A small gray puff of atmosphere flew out. The shuttle entered the shuttle bay and landed noiselessly. Others followed in its wake and set down.

The bay doors slammed shut and the hiss of air was heard. The voice from the cockpit came again. "Welcome home, people. Please make sure that you get all of your belongings before you exit the shuttle since this area will be off-limits for the rest of our flight through the warpgate." Donny unstrapped himself from the chair and stood up. "Hang on, is this gravity?" He said puzzled. Matthew wore a small look of guilt and amusement. "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about that." Donny was amazed. "Artificial gravity! I didn't think we'd get that in my lifetime. This is going to be an awesome trip!" Matthew was gratified to see the young man's face light up like that. The rest of the passengers were equally surprised and were asked to keep quiet about it by Navy officials. Inside the bay, the air tasted slightly different than Earth air. It was slightly metallic, which suggested recycling. Around them, technicians were hard at work checking to see that various pieces of equipment were working. A man went to meet them.

Greetings ladies and gentlemen, I am Admiral Fredrikson. I have taken over the UNSC _Enterprise_ and I will be accompanying you for the trip. When you see Dr. Mobius, I want you to be sure that you offer him your respect. He is the reason we are here today to make history forever. Donny and Matthew exchanged looks to smugness. "Now you will all be assigned a room and we will be going through the gate in about one day. At 1400 hours, two o' clock, we will be running through proper evacuation procedures and cryogenic sleep preparations, until then, unpack, and get comfortable. Welcome to the future, ladies and gentlemen.

Matthew spent a sleepless night thinking about the next morning when they would go though the gate. Despite the fact that that for the entire day they were drilled on the procedures for the ship he just couldn't get to bed. He had to constantly assure himself that this entire thing wouldn't blow up in his face. He had to make himself several promises that this would be a good thing and that he would do everything in his power to find a home for these people. And with that, he closed his eyes and drifted into his last dream in the solar system.

"Ok, let's rock and roll." Fredrikson said. He nodded to Ensign Aaron who would drive the ship into the gate. Doctor Mobius was standing beside the Admiral with his hands clasped behind his back. Ahead, the gate activated with blue energy pulsing around it. The _Enterprise_ in the lead, entered the gate first, with the UNSC _Hopeful, _UNSC _Mercy_, UNSC _Devoted_, UNSC _Farlancer_, UNSC _Mayflower_, UNSC _Magnolia_, UNSC _Ascendant_, UNSC _Giver_, and the UNSC _Krypton_ in formation behind them. The bow of the ship crossed the gate and was snatched by white light. Once the bridge was though the gate Mobius' jaw dropped. Fredrikson saw this and said, "What's wrong?"

The space in front of them was nothing but white in a long tube that extended forever. "This was not as I calculated. It was supposed to be black, since we are in a different dimension of space time!" Then, A lieutenant said, "Sir! The engines are overloading!" Fredrikson was alarmed now. "Jesus Christ, get us out of here!" Aaron yelled, "We can't! Engine control is impossible, we've been sucked in!" Fredrikson screamed, "Red Alert! Lock down all decks NOW!" The red lights started spinning and klaxons whined throughout the ship. People started panicking as they were ushered to their quarters. The Lieutenant said again, "Sir, there's no damage to the engine, but the overload standings are over the red mark." The admiral was dumbstruck, hypnotized by the phenomenon. "What the hell?" Then, there was darkness once again.


	3. Chapter 3: Gift or Curse

Chapter 3: Gift or Curse?

Location Unknown,

August 15th 2190

"Where the hell are we, Ensign?" Fredrikson asked Patricia. "No idea, sir. The star charts don't match up, sir." Fredrikson cursed. "Shit!" He then turned to Mobius. "I hope you have an explanation for this, Doctor, because unless some miracle occurs, you've just effectively killed us all off.

"Sir, I can only offer you what I know for sure. The gate malfunctioned probably, sending us much farther than we thought. These stars are in different positions, so we have no idea of finding out where we are." Fredrikson took off his cap and wiped his brow. "Is there any hope of help?" Aaron shook her head the said "Wait a moment sir, I'm picking up a signal. It's one of ours! Sir, it's _Mobius 1_!" The bridge crew looked out the main viewport. I was indeed the same cone shaped drone launched only a few days before.

After the robot was recovered, one of the science officers reported a cosmic storm was approaching. However, due to it's speed and size, the colony ships would just pass it before it arrived. This calmed the colonists, who were allowed to roam the ship again. At the time, Matthew was down in the biodome. He walked through the large area where artificial sunlight shone down on the living area. Matthew found Donny there and a few other colonists admiring wildlife. "Hey." Matthew called. "Yo." Donny called back. "Like animals?" the doctor asked his friend. "Yeah, they're neat. I like foxes. They're kinda cool. What about you, man?" Mobius thought about it, "Actually, I'm more into squirrels."

Donny did a double take. "What? Are you serious?" Matthew shrugged. "Yeah, everyone usually has the same reaction." Donny looked again at a Red Fox, as it ran around trying to find a mate. "What are the animals for?" Matthew told him, "Oh they're for populating a new world. We have almost every kind of animal in this small fleet. You could say we're like giant arks but we're in space." Donny gave a small laugh.

"Uh, Admiral Fredrikson, you may want to see this." The Navy man walked up to the console. "What's going on?" The Lieutenant pointed at the blob that represented the cloud. "The cloud has expanded and has accelerated. The last report showed that it was 9 billion kilometers at the widest point. Now, it expanded to 27 billion kilometers. Fredrikson gasped. At the rate of speed, it would absolutely intercept the fleet and there was nothing to do about it. "Sound Red Alert!" The admiral cried. The sirens reactivated and for the second time in the voyage, the colonists panicked.

Mobius and Vennettilli were in the vivarium at the time when the Red Alert sounded. The blast doors slammed over the entrance and the animals started crying at the sound of the klaxons. The colonists turned to see themselves locked in. They uselessly pounded on the doors to beg for escape. The lights flickered as the first vestiges of the storm arrived. "What's happening?" Donny asked. "I don't know!" Matthew responded. Next the gravity failed. The colonists and animals gasped at the sight of themselves floating. Donny tried to calm everyone down. "Try not to panic, everyone. The organs don't respond well in Zero-G when you panic." Then the lights failed completely. The PA crackled and emergency lights glowed. "This is Admiral Fredrikson. All crew, prepare for storm front collision!

The other ships gave the lockdown order as well. Nobody on Earth had ever dealt with a cosmic storm before so it was a gamble to see weather the colonists would make it through this. The storm hit broadside sending the ships tumbling through space. The helmsmen tried to get the craft under control when the lightning struck them. Suddenly, Something both wonderful and horrible happened.

The lightning connected with the _Enterprise _first. Then it branched out to the other ships in the fleet. The lightning tried to find a way into the ship as if its purpose was to destroy all inside. It finally found a way in through vents, airlocks, and electrical equipment. The lightning finally found organic flesh of colonists.

Mobius was hit with the lightning. His flesh stung as the air ionized and he smelt ozone. The animal he was standing in front of, a squirrel, was also struck. It twisted and turned in Zero-G. Then, blinding pain stabbed Mobius unlike anything he had felt before. This was the day that the lives of everyone on the ship, and their descendants would change forever.

When Mobius felt the blinding pain, the lightning did more than anyone would have thought of. The lightning actually invaded Matthew's body, seized DNA from his cells, mostly stem cell DNA and transferred it to other living organisms. Since this process was instantaneous, the cells were not killed. The organism the cell blueprints would fly into was, naturally, the squirrel he was standing in front of. He shrieked as he received its DNA as well. He then had the strangest feeling as if some sort of metamorphosis was taking place inside of him. He didn't know how much time had passed since they impacted the storm front but eventually the storm subsided and the lockdown was cancelled.

Matthew was trying to regain his feet now that gravity was restored. He spotted Donny laying a few feet away from him writhing on the ground. He ran to him. "Don, DON, are you OK?" Donny cracked open his eyes. "A-OK, doc. Can I have a lollipop?"

Mobius laughed and knew he was going to pull through. Suddenly, Don bolted upright. "What's wrong?" Mobius asked. "I hear people acting a little strange. A mix of crying and confusion." Matthew struggled to hear. "I'm sorry, I can't hear anyone here besides you, me and a few other colonists." "No, no, I hear people. They sound like hey need help. We should go and save them!" He then got up and ran away at amazing speed that Matthew had never seen in him before. He then turned to look at the Red Fox that he saw earlier and was trying to shake off the disorientation. Mobius' eyes darted back and forth in his skull. _I wonder…No, It can't be…can it?_

Mobius decided to follow Donny wherever he was. Outside, some colonists pointed him in the right direction. He took a few winding turns through hundreds of meters of the colony ship. He then smelt smoke. And where there's smoke…

He saw the fire in full force. He shielded his face from the heat. His arms grew very warm. Donny was in front of him dragging some colonists away from a power station that reacted badly to the lightning. Computer equipment and titanium wall-plating covered their burned bodies. Don checked the pulse of a young man. "He's alive barely. Is there a medical facility on the ship?" A Marine who arrived at the scene nodded. "Yeah, there's a paramedic team heading this way. Better get them all rounded up."

A few other colonists and marines aided Donny in pulling out victims. The young man sighed as he felt a man's neck. "He's dead. Lightning shorted out his spinal column." Mobius stared. He wasn't used to seeing death even though the dead man looked like he was peacefully sleeping. He wasn't even singed by the fire. "We can't do anything for some of these colonists. Their injuries are far too great."

That day 31 colonists and marines in the fleet died. Most of them from electrocution and some by burns from fire. They all gathered in a large room with black draped from catwalks. Admiral Fredrikson stood wearing his black suit as well. "These people were meant to help mankind build a dream that would stand for all time, and they lost their lives to it. Why their time was chosen now we will never know. Give them your respect. They have died for a great cause and they shall not be forgotten. Marines! Honors: _Ten-Hut!_ The Marines in dress blue saluted their fallen brethren and slammed their M1 Garands on the ground and one proceeded to play 'Taps' the traditional funeral song used originally by the United States Military.

Metal cylinders that held the ashes of the dead were launched out of the ship and then slowly fell back. Some sniffles were heard but no tears were visible. "This service is finished," Admiral Fredrikson concluded. "I recommend you all get some sleep. It's late.

Mobius couldn't sleep. Something just didn't feel right about him. The doctor had been running at faster speeds since during his morning exercise, he topped speeds of 12 miles per hour on the treadmill and didn't even break a sweat. He also noted that his climbing skills on the rock wall had increased as well. Actually, almost all of the colonists have noted strange behavior. So today Matthew decided to do some research on the subject; he took a blood sample and analyzed its makeup. Just as a precaution he also took the blood sample of the female squirrel that was also struck. He now called the squirrel Mindy and kept her as a lab pet. Under the DNA scanner he noticed an analomy. Both the DNA makeup of both the blood samples were similar to each other, however, he concluded that some bits of the DNA molecule were not native to the creature. After a few precise comparisons, he concluded that probably at least _half_ of the DNA in Mindy was actually _his own_! In a nutshell, he had mated with the squirrel in some way. He didn't want to think about it that way so he concluded that they had switched genetic information. Mindy was technically half-human. This got him thinking. Maybe he could have some fun and conduct an important scientific study at the same time.

He leaned close to the squirrel and said "Hello?" Mindy suddenly stopped chewing on a pencil and looked straight at Matthew. He blinked then suddenly wrote this down on a lab sheet. "August 19th 2190, roughly err…12:51 PM, Conducting scientific study with test subject B1D-534-FD, a Brown Squirrel who I'm calling Mindy. During this time I have reached a hypothesis that Mindy has grown-to some level- sentient. When I asked the squirrel a simple question, 'Hello?' It suddenly stopped its previous activity and looked right at me. This could possibly mean a drastic intelligence increase following the affects of the storm. I'll proceed with testing."

For the next hour Mobius conducted some simple experiments. He received a Master's Degree in Biological Study and was now putting it to work. Some simple 'find-the-nut' exercises were the optimal choice. Mindy showed an unusual tendency to find the nut under the correct cup. Interesting… Also, The squirrel looked slightly bigger. Maybe it was nothing. The door pinged open.

Matthew spun around. It was Ensign Aaron. "Oh, hello Patricia." He said then turned around to his calculations. "Doctor Mobius, Matthew. What's going on?" Matthew decided flat out to tell her. "I think that our DNA has been leeched together with animal DNA. We've become mutated so to speak." Aaron looked a little surprised. "Mutated? What does that mean for us?" Mobius sighed. "Well, I'm not sure. Mindy here, the little squirrel is a perfect example of understanding everything I say and she is also very intelligent after receiving some of my brain cells." Patricia cocked an eyebrow. "Intelligent?" "Yeah, look at this." He turned to face Mindy who was again chewing on a pencil to try and keep her teeth short. "Mindy?" The squirrel immediately looked around at Matthew. "Well look at that!" Patricia said. "She recognizes her own name!" "I know. I wonder what else she can do."

Mindy went on squeaking for a few minutes. "I think she's trying to talk to you, Matt." Aaron insisted. A few more scientists were in the lab today also doing genetic study on themselves and other animals. A mid-aged biologist was studying a hedgehog and concluded that due to a strange transfusion it had increased bone density. What else it could do was a mystery.

Matthew looked at his subject who was squeaking. "Well with its brain developing rapidly, it's trying to take advantage of all its intelligence. Scans show that they can now utilize up to 15 of their brains." Mankind has now unlocked 20 of its brain operational abilities that enabled them to make drastic scientific and economic changes. The most amazing of which was the Purification of Earth in 2117 when Earth was rid of all its pollution and the hole in the Ozone was fixed.

Day 2 of the voyage in this strange new place was entirely devoted to study. Donny came to visit him in the lab and ask for assistance. "Sure. What do you need?" Matthew answered. "Ever since the storm I think I've changed." Matthew looked at him understanding. "How so?" Don thought about it. "Well, my sense of smell has obviously increased." "Really?" "For example," He took a sniff of the air. "You had Sloppy Joes for lunch with a side of mashed potatoes. Afterwards you applied an aftershave that is from the Colgate shaving brand." Mobius quit pretending to be surprised and actually was now. "I'm impressed. What else has changed?" "I'm quicker and more muscular. Not complaining or anything. I also have a bit more hair on my forearms than usual." Donny rolled up his sleeves to show them off. "It's probably the fur genes that were supplied by the fox. You have nothing to fear though. Since I've concluded that we ourselves won't turn into the animals ourselves."

Donny looked a little relieved. "What about Mindy there?" Mobius looked at the squirrel who was making excellent progress. She was now recognizing the voices of different scientists. "I don't know. Since I've only seen a few days' worth of progress, I can only assume that they will eventually grow into a more human-like stature both physically and mentally." "You mean that they'll become 5 foot tall furries?" "Probably. Height I believe will vary but they will average around my height, roughly 5 feet 7 inches. Actually Mindy here, given enough growth time may actually have a more masculine physique since she borrowed my DNA." "What do you mean by 'masculine'?"

"Probably more muscular, larger hands and feet, etc. and probably a tendency to have shorter hair." "Hair? Don't animals have fur?" Mobius said, "Yes normally, but with the gaining of these new genes, it appears that the follicles are actually producing hair, as well as fur. Extraordinary." Donny asked a question. "Doc, how will they reproduce?" "How do animals normally reproduce, Donny?" "Uh gee, I don't know, through sex?"

"Well, there's your answer. Personally I try not to think about it as much but there will be a strong urge to reproduce as soon as the animals reach the Erectus level. Mostly around the rabbits and the crew also infected with rabbit DNA." "There's another thing I think will be an issue. There's not nearly enough crew on the ship. How do you expect…" "Well if I'm addressing what you're thinking, then yes. Since we humans now have all the hormones that are produced in other animals of the entire kingdom, I think that the animals-once they reach a Sapient stage of course-Will be naturally inclined to well…get together with some of the crew." "That's disgusting!" "Oh relax, kid. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. You're only hurting your family line." Donny calmed down a little and stared at Mindy. "Do you think you'll get her to talk?" Matthew thought about it.

"I think it's possible. The speech centers are currently in development. I think though, in order to teach it to talk. We'll have to try and teach them the same we teach babies to talk. I think it'll work the same way trying to get them to walk on two feet."

"Well Doc, I think I'm going to turn in for the night. Good luck in the research." "Yeah, thanks Donny. Drop by tomorrow and well see about getting Mindy to talk."

The Admiral had invited Matthew to a little private dinner. There they discussed the state of the ship. "These colony ships were only designed to hold upwards of 100,000 humans. We weren't counting on that storm. If we gain all these hybrids on board, we will not have enough room to accommodate everyone. We need to find a planet, hopefully a habitable one. We have the equipment to make a terraformation possible but it may take too long. Do you understand?"

Matthew nodded. "Yes sir. But we've been drifting for close to 2 days now in deep space with absolutely no idea where we are. What are the odds of us finding a planet to call home?" Fredrikson looked at the young man. "Well, we have to hope. Get some sleep, Doctor, we begin a system sweep around this star we're approaching in the morning.

Matthew walked back to his bunk thinking that this genetic mutation could either be a gift or a curse.


	4. Chapter 4: Planet Mobius

Chapter 4: Planet Mobius 

August 21st 2190

Unknown location

Dr. Mobius woke up early one morning. The blinds on his windows opened automatically opened to let the sunshine in. He stretched and got dressed. On the bridge, he did as the admiral had suggested he do. He manned a console himself and tried to locate a terrestrial planet. After a few hours le located a small dip in the nearby star's gravitational pull. It seemed to be wobbling across the screen. This could only be a planet tugging at the star's gravity. He called the Admiral to check it out. "Well, it certainly looks small enough to be a terrestrial planet. It's right in the planet's habitable zone. I'll relay orders to the fleet to travel to that location. This is looking good.

With the fusion engines at full power, they were able to come within 9 million kilometers of the planet's orbit. They waited for roughly ten hours before a sphere could be seen coming straight at them at around 30 kilometers a second. The light from the sun showed them all they needed to know.

The planet reminded them of their own homeworld that they last saw only a few short days ago. All mouths on the bridge dropped. Fredrikson said, "It looks just like Earth!" And so it did. North America was connected to Europe and South America was broken apart in a few pieces. Australia was just a circular island but the rest of the world looked indifferent.

"What does this mean, Mobius?" "Well sir, this may sound crazy but I believe this may be an alternate Earth. We had theories in High School that there was multiple universes that could each represent a timeline in its own right. What happened to this Earth we will probably never know anytime soon." "Well, we might as well conduct an atmospheric evaluation so we can clear for landing."

A crewman took the liberty of completing the task. "Sir, it looks like the planet has a Hydrogen/Oxygen mix of an atmosphere. It is fully breathable." The Admiral smiled. There was hope after all. He turned to the doctor. "Well, son, what are you going to call it?" Matthew looked at Fredrikson. "What do you mean, sir?" The admiral jerked his head in the direction of the viewport. "You found it, Matthew. You get to name it."

Matthew didn't need to think about it. "I'm going to call her Mobius after myself. I don't know why but I think it's a fitting name." Fredrikson shrugged. "It may be a little self-obsessed but I like the sound of it too. Planet Mobius. Has a nice ring to it."

The rest of the colonists were informed of the discovery and morale was rekindled again. They would find a new home yet. They would give parents and children a chance to be a family and start anew on a world that hadn't been touched in hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of years. Donny was excited by the discovery naturally and went to go see Matthew, who was down in the lab.

Matthew was spending the day trying to get some simple words out of Mindy. She was showing good progress as usual. Her hair had just started to grow but barely stood out more than a few centimeters. Her arms and legs have also begun a phase of change. She was developing joints, which was a big leap in evolution.

"Matthew." Mobius spoke to the squirrel. Who gave a small squeak: no joy. He tried again: "Matthew." But again all he got was squeaks. "You have absolutely no idea how idiotic you look right now." Donny said smiling. Matthew laughed. "She is responding to my words however we're not getting very much more than that." "Really? What have you been trying to make her say?" "Matthew." "Well that's your problem. It's too big. You need to start out with smaller words like Yes, No, Mommy, Daddy, and so on." "But I'm not its father." "Yeah but you need to start from somewhere."

Matthew told Donny "well if she continues to grow I'll have to keep her in a larger area. I think there's small living quarters for her available?" "I wouldn't know. She seems too small for one right now. Anyways, you many want to get ready for a landing on _Planet Mobius_. Catchy name by the way." Mobius stood up and said, "It was the first thing that popped into my mind. I wasn't thinking." Donny smirked. "Well I like it." "You do?" The younger man nodded. "Of course I do. I also heard that Ensign Aaron likes it as well." "Patricia?" "I'm not lying when I say that." Donny then walked through the door and it closed behind him.

He looked at Mindy. Her eyes had changed. From their original darkness they turned into a bright green with human-like quality. "Well, should I go?" He asked the squirrel. She made a movement that might have been a nod. He decided that he needed a look at his new home. She tossed an acorn towards Mindy and walked though the door as Donny did.

The transports cut through the atmosphere in fiery streaks. The colonists looked out the windows to see the clouds rush above them. After a flight time of ten minutes, they finally saw a great green meadow. Them men, women and children gasped with wonder. The pilot even lifted up his faceplate to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Nobody on board had ever seen that much green before. The Transport banked and slowed to a stop. It lowered landing tires and touched down on a large hill. The engines were cut and the passengers unstrapped themselves. A Marine coded open the door and it slid up. The colonists got their first whiff of the sweet Mobian air. The sun was shining bright yellow in the prefect, cloudless, sapphire blue sky. Nobody had ever seen anything like it.

Mobius stood on the tallest point of the hill overlooking a valley with waterfalls. Don walked up beside him. "It's so beautiful." He told the doctor. "Yeah I know. Hard to believe we found this place by accident." Donny asked a question. "Sir, if this is Earth, where are all the people? I don't see anyone." "Well, that's anyone's guess, Donny. We could be anywhere in time and space. Perhaps on this Earth all the humans went extinct or left. Maybe there never were any humans on this world. We may never know."

Matthew felt strange exhilaration while walking on Mobius' surface. Near the landing site was a forest that seemed to stretch on for miles. In the wide-open valley he consulted with Admiral Fredrikson.

"Sir. This seems to be a good place to set up the colony." Fredrikson took a look around. He looked slightly different in civilian clothes. "Well, explain to me why you think so?"

"Well," Matthew began, "We're in a wide open area. That means that there will be plenty of sunshine to harvest for solar power since there are not too many trees in this valley. Those waterfalls over there can be a source of power also and much more importantly, a source of water on the planet. The surrounding mountains can provide us with minerals should we need them as well. And the woods can provide us with food and lumber. We have seeds on the ship so we can grow a fairly large amount of crops."

Fredriskon nodded. "Very well. Do you have a structure arrangement plan?" Mobius shook his head. "Not yet, sir. I believe that there's more than enough prefabricated structures aboard to accommodate a million people?" "You'd be right doctor. Do you have a name for this colony? Is it something that has 'Mobius' in it?" The doctor shook his head. "Actually, no. I noticed a large amount of knotholes in the trees. I think it would be safe to call this colony 'Knothole'." Some colonists sniggered including Donny. Maybe it was stupid-sounding to them but Matthew thought it was brilliant. Quite a damn good first try for naming a planet and colony.

The citizens of Knothole couldn't go down to the planet right away of course. They had to be inspected for any infection encountered in space and they needed to get their address. In the first three weeks in orbit, people were sorted into their areas and they went down in small numbers. The Knothole colony had grown in three weeks. Already there were close to 300,000 citizens in homes. Many were already growing crops with genetically enhanced seeds. Roads were constructed and eco-friendly cars were already loaded off the ships and roaming the streets. In the center of it all, was the Mobian Government Center.

Matthew Mobius was officially the governor of Mobius. However, he refused to be known as that since he never really fancied politics. He hand-picked some other colonists to deal with internal affairs and law-enforcement. Not that it mattered very much. Knothole was actually a very peaceful little town. There was barely any sort of pollution given off, crops were plentiful, and research was booming.

Matthew was, as always, occupied with the study of the developing anthropomorphic animals. Mindy was his primary research subject. At over 3 weeks since the storm, Mindy had grown substantially and was now the size of a newborn baby. Her joints were fully completed in development and her human stature began to take shape. Her hair had also grown out and was short just as Matthew had predicted. By this stage she had actually learned to speak somewhat. Her voice was high and squeaky, close to the original version before the storm. She could say simple words such as Yes, No, Hi, Bye, and short sentences. Her spine hadn't developed yet so she was still hunched over. Also, Matthew had requested special clothes be made for Mindy since even early in her evolutionary process, she had developed a very strong sense of modesty. Most mammals other than humans had more than two breasts also. Mindy went from having six to two in a week. Her tail was probably her most distinctive feature. It had grown with her to about a foot in length. She had a special room in the Government building that had light pouring in from a skylight and a tree to climb in.

Matthew was doing work on a young wolf cub that was trying to get used to having different types of teeth. He was a fairly big cub and was speaking very well, quite a progression. He spoke with a growling accent but with the voice of a seven-year-old child "It's sort of weird. My momma tells me that it's all because of that storm. Is it right, doctor?" Mobius laughed. "That's right. You'll get used to it eventually. I also see that your speaking skills have gotten better. Have you been practicing?" The cub gave a short bark. "Yeah. Some of the men with guns bring in a box that speaks. They put something flat in it and people sing. Is it magic, doctor?" Mobius smiled. "In a few years you'll know. All right, your teeth are looking good. Try to get Doctor Hibbert to help you brush often." "OK, thank you!" the cub barked and slid down from the table. He couldn't walk upright yet though so he waddled out the door into the arms of a black doctor. Ensign Aaron walked into the room.

"Seems you're having fun with the animals, doctor." He dropped his Tablet on the table and spun around to see her. "Oh, Patricia! Glad to see you! What's the nature of this visit?" She smiled. "I actually wanted to see how Mindy's doing. I hear that she's acting like a daredevil in the tree now." Matthew chuckled. "Well you got that right. She's obviously inherited my daredevil genes. I never really used them though."

They walked down the hall to Mindy's room. There were also some other rooms with both young humans and anthros. Some were watching TV broadcasted from the colony ships in orbit; a raccoon child was flipping through a book. It was easy with the opposable thumbs he already possessed. And a young girl and a pretty vixen were playing 'Patty-Cake' in an effort to educate the young furry in human leisure. Suddenly they reached the squirrel's room. She was lying on her cot. When she saw them at the door she leaned up and said. "Hi, Matt! (She could only pronounce 'Matt'), Hi, Miss Tritia ('P's were hard for her right now)!" "Hi, Mindy!" Aaron called to her.

In human age, Mindy was only about 12 but acted like she was 5. "Hey, wanna see me do a trick? The man with the gun at the door taught it to me. He said it was a flip!" He glanced at the Corporal by the door who shrugged and said, "What was I supposed to do, she was bugging me all day and she was cute." Matthew shook his head with a smile and saw the First-Generation Mobian perform a flawless flip in the branch and landed on her bare feet. Matthew turned to Patricia and asked her, "Hey, Patricia. Are you doing anything tonight? I was hoping that we could go and get a drink and maybe some dinner. I know a great little restaurant just off Main Street. To his surprise she smiled.

"My shift ends in 3 hours." Meet me at the barracks and we'll go from there. She walked out of the room. For the first time in a long time, Matthew Mobius felt like a teenager in love again.

All the way across space and time, Earth had long discovered the absence of Doctor Mobius and the fleet. It was simply a matter of sending radio transmissions to the cluster where they were supposed to end up. When this failed, all major telescopes were pulled out of orbit and were directed towards the cluster but to no avail. There was no sign of the colony vessels in the surrounding 20 light years.

The United Nations had no choice to accept that they were either hopelessly lost in interstellar space, trapped forever in Mobius' Slipstream, or dead. For the public safety, the gate was closed off following inquiries. Perhaps they would send a rescue team or perhaps they would not. It would all be decided with time. But until then, all of the men, women and children lost in the far reaches of the Universe would be known as 'Mobius and the Lost Million' This title would stay with him for over a millennium.


	5. Chapter 5: The Next Generation

Chapter 5: The Next Generation Chapter 5: The Next Generation

Mobius, New America

December 15th 2190

Matthew and Patricia were actually a very good couple. After a few small dates at restaurants and a few shows, he knew her better than any of the other officers on the ship. She liked Shakespeare's work, enjoyed 21st century movies, loved mathematics, and played football. She and Matthew were now closer than Egyptian nanocotton.

Other than Patricia, Science was Matthew's other love. Every day he checked in on the growing anthros. They were all able to stand upright at around this time. It was a magnificent sight to see what had been garden variety animals were now two feet high humanoids which were perfectly able to speak clearly now. Mindy in particular. Her teeth had shortened so she no longer had to chew everything she saw to keep them from growing. This also enabled her to pronounce other syllables better.

All the furry Mobians now wore clothes. It started to get a little unsettling for other human colonists to see the anthros without clothing on. Some found the transition hard to contend with since many felt stuffy with the clothes. Others found it quite refreshing to have a decent covering, especially those that had relatively thinner fur or none at all.

The humanoid Mobians were now walking the streets. It was a little odd at first but people got used to it. The tallest humanoid Mobian at the time was around 3 feet 5 inches. They could own homes and get jobs. They were basically regarded as equals and were practically treated as humans. They were able to grasp knowledge very quickly. At the local education center young Mobians both human and anthro were educated in English, a second language, a third for some, Mathematics, Earth History, Biology, and Science. Since the Anthros were part human and inherited some intelligence from the human colonists, they learned much quicker than the humans. This unfortunately led to some schoolyard conflicts. These fights were quickly broken up by the teachers but some children still had species issues with each other.

Knothole had grown into a fairly active city in 6 months. Some citizens left the city to establish little hamlets and towns that would, in time, grow into communities. The buildings now grew to a maximum height of five stories. Cars dotted the streets with school transports bringing children home. Some Anthros kept to their old ways and hibernated for the winter. They even spent time with the non-mutated animals that were released into the wild some time ago to populate the planet. Others spent time with human families to get a better understanding of being human. Others physically wanted to be human and took moderate amounts of Human Growth Hormones to increase their height. Everything was going better than anybody on Mobius would have hoped. At least until some people noticed a problem with their hands.

Matthew Mobius was called to see Admiral Fredrikson. He had gotten strange medical reports from some of the men and women in the city. "What's going on, Admiral?" Matthew said clearing the entrance into Fredrikson's study. A warm fire flickered in its hearth and over it stood a painting of the Space Shuttle_ Discovery_. "I'm about to tell you something that I would rather wouldn't get out to the public." Mobius nodded. "What is it?" Fredrikson passed Mobius a medical file dated two weeks ago. Matthew cracked open the folder and read about the strange ailments. Reportedly, men and women developed a strange case of a finger falling off. There have been no signs of self-abuse and it was happening in very large amounts of people. "Have there been any other symptoms?" Matthew asked, curious. "None. I take it you don't know anything either?"

"No I don't. Perhaps we should get someone to make an analysis. We don't want this to be a disease. Perhaps we should isolate the affected. How many are there?" Fredrikson answered without hesitation. "One hundred thousand." Matthew silently cursed.

"Christ, Admiral, that's an entire colony ship!" Fredrikson stared at Matthew. "About that, we've been hearing rumors that the infected are trying to bring one of the colony ships down." "Down? As in…" "Down as in trying to crash it onto the planet."

Mobius was astonished. Have they gone insane? He just hoped that the Marines could take care of it. If not, he hoped that these _maniacs_ wouldn't target Knothole. There were almost a million people in the city. A colony ship that size would easily kill a few thousand in a nanosecond upon impact. When the nuclear reactor went critical it would vaporize almost the entire population and spread radiation towards the other outlying towns in New America. These idiots would effectively kill everyone on the planet. And there was so much to be gained from this world. And his precious anthros…

"Well, do we know which ship they want to attack?" Matthew asked the Navy man.

He shook his head. "No we don't. We don't even know their reasons for doing this sort of thing. We need to recall all Marines from the surface and try to defend the ships. And the Mass Drivers on board." "You put _MASS DRIVERS_ on our ships? On _Colony Ships?!" _

Fredrikson looked as though he said something he wished he shouldn't have. "Well, yes. We wanted to take precautions that the planets we would colonize didn't have any hostile aliens." Matthew looked at the admiral. Frankly he had enough power as governor to overrule him, but he couldn't the cannons were already on the ship and they were already a target. All they could do was pull back forces and hope.

That night, a shipment of food was sent up to the _Magnolia _from the small spaceport. They were said to be carrying wheat, chilled fruits and vegetables, as well as drinks. A squad of Marines was to be rotated from duty. Among these men was Staff Sergeant Nathaniel Morgan. His other squadmates didn't know it yet but he would take the _Magnolia _down and gain the independence his people wanted.

Nathaniel was one of the Infected. Meaning he lost a digit due to the lost DNA in the storm. His DNA had no place to go and was lost in space. Without it, certain habits and physical qualities were lost, for instance his two small fingers and his caring nature. He was now a cold blooded fiend bent on destruction.

The other soldiers didn't know it, but a few 'brothers' were hidden in the crates of food. They had powerful weapons with them that would help them take the ship.

The transport docked in the _Magnolia_'s launch bay and the crates were rolled out. Once the other soldiers split their separate ways, Nathaniel went to work. He pulled out a silenced USP Match and loaded an extended clip into it, clicked off the safety and began his bloody action.

His first target was a crewman who was checking a storage bay. He snuck up behind him and unloaded two rounds into his head. The crewman died immediately and Morgan shoved his body into a storage container.

He set off down the hall towards the bridge. He recognized a few brothers from the planet who already claimed lives of their own. They joined him intently. Morgan shot a trio of Marines before they could bring their weapons up. They didn't bother hiding the bodies since alarm bells began to ring. They had been discovered.

"Follow me!" Nate shouted. The other traitors followed closely. A fire team had spotted them and began firing. An Infected fell beside him, shot in the head. Nate tossed a grenade. The bomb exploded and sent the Marines flying and slamming into the wall.

The bridge was up ahead. The guards didn't have a chance to react since Nate stabbed the first and shot the other. He slid down the wall trailing blood. The crewmen couldn't do anything, as they were strapped to their chairs. They were all killed and the helmsman was given the chance to live since he was also an Infected.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked. "Simple. Nate answered. "Just dive down into the atmosphere. Find a place to land. That's where we build our new empire."

The helmsmen cocked an eyebrow. "An empire. That sounds interesting."

The _Magnolia_'s engines flared. The ship started to move out of formation. The _Enterprise_ hailed her. "UNSC _Magnolia_, this is the UNSC _Enterprise_. You do not have permission to be out of orbit. Return at once." The helmsman laughed. "Didja hear that? They want us to come back." The traitors laughed.

_Enterprise_ tried again, this time with more of a more hostile attitude. "UNSC _Magnolia_. We ORDER you to return to formation. Comply with our answers or we will be forced to kill you." The helmsman answered. "Screw you, bitches." And laughed.

The COM officer shut off the channel on the _Enterprise_. "Yeah they're still not going to hold back. I say let them have it." He said. Acting Commander Joshua Burns said, "Well, they wanted it in the first place. Tac?" The officer answered, "Aye, sir?" "Tell cannon control to load up the Mass Driver and overcharge the magnetic coils." The officer typed away at once. "Aye, sir. Loading the commands now."

Ten decks aft, the cannon extended out of the ship. The cannon control workers quickly began calculating the trajectory of the slug. A tungsten/titanium round was loaded into the tube and magnetic coils were charged. The slug would be launched at more than one half the speed of light, more than enough to take a fair chunk off the _Magnolia_. They heard a metallic chink meaning that the cannon was ready to fire.

"Cannon loaded, sir. Ready to fire." The fire control officer told the Tac officer. "Roger that, cannon control. Stand by for firing command." "Aye sir, out."

On the bridge, the little computer representation of the _Magnolia_ appeared on screen with the _Enterprise_ trailing right behind her. A red line extended from the _Enterprise_ to the _Magnolia_. This would be the route of the Mass Driver slug. When the line turned green, the trajectory would intercept the rouge colony ship. The console beeped, which meant that the route was clear. "FIRE!" The Tac officer commanded. "Aye sir, firing!" The cannon officer shouted.

The bridge lights went dark. As a matter of fact, all the lights aboard the UNSC _Enterprise _went dark. The Mass Driver was an experimental weapon and was never used on a ship this size before. The firing of the cannon could be felt all throughout the vessel. On all decks, Marines, Navy personnel and colonists were thrown to the ground while the slug went screaming out of the tube. It shredded through any orbital debris and impacted with the _Magnolia_'s central engine block. The engine exploded and took one other with it. Now it was spinning in an uncontrollable dive into the atmosphere of Mobius. It glowed orange as it pounded through the stratosphere.

"What the hell did they just hit us with?" Morgan asked the helmsman. Normally he would ask the Tactical officer, but then he remembered he blew his brains out. The helmsmen stuttered. "I- I don't know, sir. It had to be something big because we just lost two of our engines!" Morgan cursed. "Dammit! We're going down!"

Alarms started to sound but neither Nathaniel nor the helmsman could do anything about it now. They were too far into the atmosphere. He made a call to all the Infected on board. "All crew, get to safe positions and prepare for crash landing. This will be a very bad landing. For all who survive, we'll build an empire to get rid of the anthros and the weak doctor."

Dr. Mobius was taking children on a walk through a park near the government building. One sandy haired child asked, "Doctor! Is that a shooting star?" "Why I think it is…Wait…" He squinted and saw that pieces of it were breaking off from the main trail. "Its one of the ships!" The children gasped. "Stay right here!" He ordered the children. Matthew ran right for the admiral.

"Did they say which one it was?" Matthew asked after talking to Fredrikson. "Yes, all the other ships except the _Magnolia_ report operational. And it just so happens that we got a distress signal from the ship before she was taken down. He pressed 'PLAY' on his console and a frightened bridge officer's voice spoke.

"This is theUNSC _Magnolia_! We're under attack by UNSC soldiers. We identified Nathaniel Morgan as the leader. They're coming this way! Send help immediately! There's thousands more on the ship. Oh my God, they were planning this! Repeat, please, send hel- Gunshots bloody splash, garglesEND

"So this guy, Morgan, is the leader of these people?" Mobius asked. "Right. He was catalogued as one of the hundred thousand that were mutated but are not anthros." "Do you think they survived the crash?" Matthew asked the Navy man. "I don't know, Mobius but even if they didn't, the thousands more will come to build their 'empire' or whatever it was." Mobius sighed. "Do they really hate me that badly to go as far as a full-scale war?" Fredrikson scoffed. "Well, never doubt what a madman will be willing to do. Morgan was a good soldier, but it appears he went over the edge."

Nate Morgan did in fact survive the crash landing. So did fifty thousand other Infected on board. They had crashed in the northern hemisphere which was felt all the way to the southern peninsula in New America. Morgan supervised the evacuation of his people from the hulk and introduced them to their new home. His first order of business: "Start building.

For three long years the exiled humans toiled as they tore apart their precious _Magnolia_ battle-plate by battle-plate. The metal from the ship built the first exile city. It didn't have a name, but it did have the biggest military force on the planet. Every now and then, bandits would raid smaller towns that settled in the closer regions. They were easy pickings since the most they had to defend themselves with were rifles.

Morgan's dream became a success in just three years. At last, MegaCentral, the most intelligent city was finished.

The city itself was mostly scrap-metal. The nuclear reactors from the ruined _Magnolia_ powered their home. Buildings hundreds of feet high were completed and a communist government was formed with Morgan at its command. Using the experimental AI on-board the colony ship, Morgan gave the city life, other than her citizens. The AI, whom he named Morgana, was the voice, heart, and soul of MegaCentral. She calculated every bit of information needed. She designed hover-cars that were years ahead of anything humanity had thought up: advanced battle armor, weaponry and technology to better the lives of the everyday layman.

The most deadly of these were the missiles. The giant 20 mega-ton ICBMs were made by siphoning the liquid plutonium from the nuclear reactors and placing it into a missile salvaged from the _Magnolia_'s firing tubes. Morgan was contented with himself as he watched robots scurry to perfect the weapon he would tenderly deliver onto the heads of the colonists who would keep this dream from becoming a reality. "Only a matter of time." Morgan said to himself with his newly selected Chief of State Ivan Kintobor.


	6. Chapter 6: The Spark of War

Chapter 6: The Spark of War

Chapter 6: The Spark of War

Mobius June 1st 2193

Great Forest 2 miles south of Knothole colony

Mindy took a deep breath. She had grown into a fine young Mobian woman. The Human Growth Hormones had finally worked. She was now as tall as a normal human girl of 16 years. Her body had fully developed (She was especially fond of her bosom) and she was a daring individual. Today she spent her time climbing around the treetops in the Great Forest with her friends. They included the children of human colonists and anthro kids too. She wore shoes that helped her stick to trees now that her claws had permanently retracted. She climbed up a fir tree to survey her surroundings. A young man named Henry Percy called up, "Mindy, mind slowing down a little bit? We aren't all anthros like you!" Mindy scoffed. "Well we can't all be human either can we, Henry Percy?"

Mindy still wasn't good with how humans named themselves. Apparently there was a first name and a family name. The first name was personal. The Doctor had chosen Mindy for her, but it stuck. The last names were different. Each family had a name to identify themselves. Only being sentient for close to four years now, there was quite a lot to grasp. Especially how to correctly toast a piece of bread to perfection, apparently it got a lot of humans angry about how their toast was made. Fascinating creatures, Humans. Always doing something you'd never expect.

Mindy jumped down to the others. She bent her knees to absorb the impact. She stood up and felt the small cracking in her kneecaps. "What should we do next?" She asked her pals. Henry was there along with a boy named Adam Little, a human girl named Felicia Hart, and a Collie boy named Russell. "Why don't we go to Washington Rock?" Henry suggested. "The waterfall is pretty fun to jump off of." Mindy thought this over and shook her head. "Nah, we jumped off waterfalls yesterday. Remember when Adam Little jumped off and lost his shorts?"

Adam blushed. "It _wasn't_ funny." Russell scoffed, which sounded like a small growl "Hell yes it was, Adam, you were screaming like a baby. Honestly I don't see why humans are afraid to show themselves off." Just then they heard a bang. "What was that?" Henry asked. "Don't know." Mindy responded. "Sounds like it was coming from the Marshlands, about 20 miles southwest." Henry was impressed. "Damn, you can hear that far and tell which way it was coming from?"

"I took a course with Fredrikson about a year ago to sharpen my survival skills. That definitely wasn't the monthly resource transport crashing." She turned to her friends. "Come on. I know a place where we can see what it was." She ran back to the colony and the others followed.

Mindy climbed a ladder to get to the top of the government building. "Are we allowed to do this?" Adam asked her. "Shut up. The guards are rotating shifts now. We should be lucky enough to get to the top without being seen."

Their shoed crunched in the pebbles of the top of the roof. From this high up they could see as far as the Mobian Jungle. "There!" Mindy shouted pointing at a column of smoke rising from the Marshlands. "The UNSC had a base there." The squirrel told her friends. "I see more smoke." Henry noted. "That wasn't an explosion. Someone's trying to attack us." "But who would…" "Hey!" A voice came from behind. It was Private First Class Donny Vennettilli of the Mobian Marine Corps. "You guys shouldn't be up here." He said. Mindy pointed to the cloud. "Don, something's wrong. There's something coming from the Marshlands. We think it's an attack. Don, trust me. You knew me since I was a non-sentient mammal. I'm not kidding about this." Don took a look and straightened his patrol cap. "Alright follow me and I can get you to Fredrikson. Stay close."

Nobody else had realized what had happened in the Marshlands. Nobody knew the reason why one Marine and four teenagers followed him towards the admiral quarters. They were lucky. Admiral Fredrikson was just on his way out. "Admiral Anderson!" Don Called out."

The admiral was in a good mood today. "Ah, good morning, Private. What can I do for you?" "Sir, the city may fall under attack! Unknown forces have destroyed the Marshland Outpost!" "That's crazy, Private. I spoke to General Peteing of the Outpost just a few hours ago. Everything's fine!" "Sir, we really aren't kidding about this." Mindy said.

Fredrikson hadn't ever known Mindy to lie simply because she didn't know how. She was as honest as a church-boy. Well, girl technically. "Alright, Vennettilli. We'll contact the outpost right now. If everything's fine, we'll just forget the whole thing. How's that?" Fredrikson didn't want the Private to answer. He strode over to a communication console and asked the operator to contact the Marshland Outpost.

"Marshland Outpost this is HQ, checking in, over?" All that came over the channel was white noise. He tried again. "Marshland Outpost, this is HQ. Check in, over?" still more static. "Peteing! Respond, over!" nothing. His eyes stared into space. Something _was _wrong. He turned back to Donny. "Alright, Private, you're right. But we have to mobilize our land units. We have no official air force and a small navy. We'll just have to do what we can."

The Mobian Defense Force consisted mainly of human Marines. They picked up their M5A1-A2 assault rifles and inserted clips. They checked their iron sights and readjusted them for accuracy. All troops boarded tanks and Humvees ready for action.

The Marshalnds were miles away but the opposing forces were quick to come. They met the Marines halfway. It was scary. A huge army of nearly ten thousand men followed up with fifty thousand robotic warfighters and a squadron of robotic fighter-jets to cover the airspace.

Donny was in a troop carrier. He aimed his weapon at the approaching mass and squeezed off three rounds. The shots hit one robot in the chest and head. It exploded and took three men with it. The enemy quickly retaliated though.

A duo of fighter-jets swooped down and launched a volley of missiles into an Abrams tank just a few yards away from Donny. The tank blew apart under the might of the missiles and sent debris into Donny's Humvee. Two men were peppered with shrapnel and screamed in pain. The fell out of the jeep and bled to death. The driver took a hint that the army was getting a little close and turned.

The enemy men raised weapons. They fired laser weaponry. Such energy was hard to manufacture but it appeared that they had done it. The ruby beams sizzled and sliced into a jeep, which disintegrated in a fiery blaze.

Donny was in shock. There was so much death around him all at one time. He had never killed anybody and had never seen a man die in front of him. It was way too much. It only got worse as lasers sliced through the canvas supports of the Humvee.

He came back to his senses and squeezed off another burst. It caught an enemy soldier in the head and it exploded. He turned to look at a squadmate. "This is suicide, man. We need help!" The man rocked back and forth. "Tell me about it. We need air support!" And with that, an orange streak parted the clouds and landed in the enemy onslaught. A huge explosion was seen and a large cloud appeared.

At first, the shockwave blew all the human vehicles away. Then, the breath was snatched from Donny's lungs as a vacuum was formed and dragged everyone in. The howling stopped and the Marines could breathe. "T-That was the Mass Driver?" he asked. "Yeah." His squadmate answered. "Look, they're retreating." He said this with a smile. Almost half of their numbers were dead. Mostly robots. The survivors ran away as fast as they could. The humans whooped and cheered as they turned and headed for home.

The UNSC losses were also noticeable. Almost ten Abram tanks were lost. Also, three battalions were also taken by the exiles, mainly killed through laser wounds. The dead were carried back and given a proper funeral in Knothole. They were the first humans to die on Mobius.

Matthew Mobius was in his office alone. He had no work to do today. There was a gentle knock on his door and in walked Patricia. She was now a Lieutenant Junior Grade serving aboard the new _Royal_-class battleship called the USS ­_Royal_. "Matt, what's wrong?" Matthew sat up straighter. He wiped his eyes slightly. "Nothing, nothing. Just checking over some calculations." but Patricia new better. "Matt, tell me. I only want to help." Mobius took a deep breath. "I never intended for any of this to happen. I wanted to _save_ mankind from war. In the end I'm only starting it all over again."

"Matthew, It would have come eventually. Its human nature. You can't blame yourself for something that's out of your hands." He looked at her. "But what am I supposed to do?" Patricia then said, "Hope. Hope, Matthew Mobius. We can get through this. We can make a new beginning, a better beginning. I just also want to let you know that I'm with you. Whatever your decision is, I'll stand by you. There's nobody I'd rather be with and trust on this planet than you." That meant a lot to Mobius. Suddenly they were hugging tightly. Then, they kissed for a long time. It had more passion then. The rest later that night, as you might guess, was ancient history.

Nathaniel Morgan was furious. How could they lose? They had numbers, military might, and technology on their side. And yet they were decimated by the humans and anthros. Ivan Kintobor, his Head of State delivered the report with hesitation. The last man who delivered a message of bad news, well…lets just say Morgan takes the 'Shoot the messenger' thing very seriously.

"So, Ivan. Tell me what happened one more time." Kintobor took a deep breath and laid the facts out. "Well, sir, it appears that after initial attack which lasted approximately 39 minutes, a beam of light appeared in front of the army and exploded. The initial blast killed only a hundred or so troopers. The shockwave afterwards killed much more of our men. A total of 6 thousand men were lost."

Six thousand. That was an amazingly large number to lose in a single attack. "Did they figure out what it was?" Morgan asked intently. "Well, Sir, it appears that the light beam in question was, in fact a supersonic slug from one of the fleet's Mass Driver."

Morgan cursed. This was not the way he wanted to start off an empire. He was not going to simply let them blow his precious MegaCentral to subatomic particles. All right, if it was a war they wanted, it was a war they got.

Three days later Mobius was called into the Com center of the government building. Apparently the Marines there had received a message about the exiles. He walked into the room and was greeted by the admiral who was wearing a white dress uniform. "Doctor. Sit down. We've received a hail from Nathaniel Morgan or as he prefers to be called Emperor Morgan the First." "What does he want?" Mobius asked the admiral. "Apparently he didn't take kindly to us shelling his troops from orbit. He just wants to have a nice, friendly chat." The Com officers scoffed a little and activated the video screen. A black man with glasses appeared. "Gentlemen. How nice of you to receive my call." Mobius answered, "Believe us Morgan, the pleasure was all ours."

Morgan's lip tightened and he continued. "If Intelligence informs me correctly, one of your ships launched an orbital bombardment on my ground forces on a raid." Fredrikson sniggered with an angry look on his face. "They murdered the staff of an entire research outpost! They then attacked our men!" "And I'D like to point out that they attacked us first!" both men fumed. "Admiral, I'd like to show you something."

The camera snapped to a launch tube with a deadly looking missile in it. "This is a Tiger V-XII nuclear ICBM. It has a 20-kiloton plutonium detonator that boosts its yield three-fold on impact. There are currently 100 of these missiles underneath the streets of MegaCentral. And might I add, they're all pointed in your general direction."

"He's bluffing." Fredrikson said. "No, he's not." Matthew noted.

Morgan smiled evilly. "The doctor's sharp. Yes I actually have 100 units like these. Even try to think of attacking us and I launch every single one on Knothole permanently wiping it from the face of the galaxy. Consider that message gentlemen. Ciao!" The screen then snapped off

"He's insane! He doesn't realize what 100 missiles will do to the orbital path of Mobius?" Matthew said. "It might even cause core destabilization!" Fredrikson reminded him, "Never underestimate what a madman will do." Mobius sighed and fell into his chair a defeated man. "So what are we supposed to do, let them attack us?" Fredrikson was in as much of a slump as Matthew was. "I don't know, doctor. Nothing's clear. Our life is in the hands of a madman who can decide to kill us at any moment. There's no place on Mobius where we'll be safe from the fallout. We don't even know what's outside New America. We haven't even explored the East Coast yet." Mobius was saddened by the fact that there was so much evil that grossly outnumbered the forces of good and justice. He would hate to see his people suffer and if his anthros died it would be genocide of massive proportions. It was just too much for his heart to bear.

That night, Matthew Mobius died of a massive heart failure in his sleep. He was only 31 years old when it happened. His friend Donny Vennettilli who was sent to wake him up discovered him unresponsive. The young PFC tried to revive the doctor. He was saddened to discover that he expired hours ago and could no longer be brought back.

A medical report done later that day showed that Mobius was in perfect health at his time of death. The final report said that he died due to the loss of the will to live. He couldn't stand to see his great experiment die.

The person who probably was most affected by Mobius' death was Patricia Aaron. She cried for close to an hour after being informed of Matthew's death. Matthew not only left her a saddened woman that would never forget him, she would also be the mother of Mobius' unborn child.

All of Knothole was silent as the Doctor's body was paraded through the streets. Everywhere, Mobians both human and anthro wept for their beloved leader. Never had any human committed himself so much towards working for the greater good of human continuity.

At the site where he was to be buried, in Mobius Memorial Park, all the people who were close to him wore the sad color black. Patricia Aaron in a black military dress uniform, Donny in dress blue heaving a ceremonial M1 Garand in his gloved hands, Fredrikson who was downright somber, and Mindy.

Mindy felt absolutely terrible about Matthew's death. He was like a father to her. She had seen death before, but none like the doctor's. Her dress was black like everyone else and she wore a veil. A single crystal-clear tear came from her eye and rolled down her face as Matthew's coffin was laid in its tomb. The priest began reading.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God to celebrate the life of a man. A person who put Man first. Matthew Mobius was an incredible individual…"

Mindy listened intently to every word that the priest said. She didn't know much about God, but she hoped that whoever he was, he would watch over Matthew. In a way, she loved him.

"…Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We pray for the dearly departed of this day. May he forever rest in God's loving embrace until the end of time. Amen." Everyone copied he priest and said 'Amen' as well. Mindy didn't know what the word meant, but she was sure it was very important. She walked up to Mathew's coffin and laid a single white rose on the cross that was on the front.

"Goodbye, doctor. I'll never forget you." She cried some more. Behind her, a Sergeant gave the order. "Honors, _Ten-Hut_!" Each Marine saluted. Donny's expression was almost carved from stone. "Present Arms!" The men held out their Garands and placed them over their shoulders. "Prepare to fire!"

The seven men aimed their Garands at the sky. "Fire!" The rifles boomed loudly and Mindy covered her tender ears. Before the casing could hit the flagstones, another volley was fired. And then one more series of shots. "Stow Arms, Aten-_Shun_!"

Donny caught up with Mindy after the service. "Are you, alright?" She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine." However, the human could sense her discomfort. "I'm going to miss him too, you know." Mindy looked at the afternoon sun in the sky. "It's just so sudden, you know? I just can't believe he's dead." "I know how you feel entirely. When I was 15, my mom died of cancer. I couldn't live with it for a long time." She looked at the human. "I'm sorry, Donny." He smiled a little. "We aren't so different, you and I. I'll see you later." He got up and walked away. Mindy suddenly looked at Donny in an entirely new way.

"So what do we do, now?" Fredrikson asked in the Officer's club in the government building. "I don't know." Private First Class Donny Vennettilli said to Fredrikson. He was selected by Mobius to be his right-hand man. "We're a planet without a leader. We have to declare a military government. We have no choice." Donny stepped up. "Sir, with respect, Mobius wanted a democracy as a government. He wanted a people's government." "Sorry, son. But Mobius is dead. I don't like doing this, but since I'm the highest ranking officer on Mobius, I am inclined to accept the role of Chief of State. You are, of course, welcome to accept the role of aide if you desire."

"That would be most welcome, sir." Fredrikson nodded. "Well, we should go on to another issue. The threat of nuclear bombardment from the North seems like a scary possibility. We need commandos sent up there to neutralize the missiles, preferably without blowing them up. My question to you: Are you up to the task?"

Donny was overwhelmed. It seemed like an honor to fulfill Mobius' wish of peace. The only way to do this was unfortunately through this plan of action. "Sir, I accept." He said. Fredrkson gave a wide smile. "Son, you are possibly one of the bravest and craziest men I know on this planet. Of this moment, you've been promoted to squad leader. Gather up your men and storm the place. Show no mercy, understand?" "Sir, I understand, sir!"

Donny suited up with his squad. It would be special ops tactics. Just before he left, he was visited by a friend. "Mindy! Hi!" He said. "Hey, Donny. I just wanted to talk to you before you left." Donny stood up and strode over to her. "What is it?" "Well, in case you don't come back, I just wanted to let you know, well… I don't know if I'm doing this right but…" She wrapped her arms around Donny's shoulders and kissed him. The move caught Donny entirely by surprise. His teammates gave a few wolf-whistles. Before he knew it, he was kissing back. When they broke apart Mindy said to him, "I've really come to like you, Donny. I hope that we can get together and mate afterwards."

That did it. A totally uncomfortable feeling came over Donny. He considered the doctor's words spoken to him four years before. He felt that "feeling", that animal instinct that he was warned about. "I have to go now." He told her. She nodded and released him.

As he walked away to his jeering squad he thought about the feeling. He was beginning to feel he liked it.

"Way to go, Sarge!" A Marine name Greg Postal called. "Shut up." Donny called back. Another named Filmore Justin said, "Well, I'm thinking of hooking up with this gorgeous vixen in my neighborhood. Cutest thing in the world, she is." Donny stepped in. "OK, people, enough of the love life. Our objectives are the missiles. We reprogram them to launch into the sun. Simple. Try not to get spotted and you'll be fine." Postal chimed in. "Well, obviously there's going to be more to pay attention to than stealth." Donny nodded. "Correct. From what we've seen in the field, the exiles have employed robots in their service. They fight much harder than humans. So keep your distance. Any more questions?"

None were asked. "OK, team. This is it. We load out in five.


	7. Chapter 7: Infiltration

Chapter 7: Infiltration

Chapter 7: Infiltration

Mobius June 3rd 2193 2134h

AH-67 Cheyenne transport helicopter.

The landscape flew underneath them in a blur. The Cheyenne was a very fast air vehicle despite her weight and dual rotors that spun at the same time. Filmore tossed a cigarette out of the open troop bay. The tiny tobacco stick was swept away by the rushing air. "Hey, Sarge. Have you ever seen MegaCentral?" he asked. "Nah. Just in the briefing photos. We're too scared to try and shell it from orbit since Morgan may spot us and launch on command."

They cleared a small range of mountains and MegaCentral stood before them. It was a big city. In three years the population had expanded to a huge number. There were now over three hundred thousand exiles all with the same symptoms of their parents. Donny shook his head. "Jesus. Look at that place!" He called to the pilot. "Hold here for a second."

The helicopter stopped in midair and swung its troop bay to the city. Donny took out a pair of binoculars and found them a landing site safe from cameras and point defenses. The craft obliged and dived for the landing space. It was a disused landing pad for a garbage disposal craft. Postal held his nose. "DAMN! This place smells like it hasn't been cleaned for a thousand years!" Donny passed out the rifles. The men lowered night vision goggles onto their faces. Donny placed a bandana over his mouth with a skull on it. "OK, move out."

There was no briefing on the streets of MegaCentral so they just had to make their way to the center of the city. That's where the missiles may be. However, they hit many dead ends. Some of which led to close calls with civilians.

Donny led his troops into a clearing and a video screen turned on. They raised their M5s instinctively but lowered them when they realized it was just a video. On the screen, a beautiful woman appeared with brown hair and deep blue eyes. She pulsed with mathematical symbols. She had to be an AI.

"Greetings citizens. It is I Morgana, Overseer of MegaCentral, and humble servant of the mighty Morgan! I have come today to tell you that the Empire expects young citizens of the city to serve their people and fight alongside us. Glory is to be won, enemies are to be destroyed, take the opportunity and join the conquest. That is all."

"Well, the entire city is being controlled by the AI?" Filmore asked. "That's interesting." Donny looked at his men. "I don't think Morgan actually makes public announcements. Maybe he thinks that he may be assassinated at one of them." "I see." Filmore answered. "How far away are we from the center?" Donny checked his mission tracker. "Only one klick. Keep up. I got a bad feeling about this.

They snuck into a transport that was bound for the missile launch building. It was simple enough since the entire thing was automated and it wasn't programmed to fight. The sat down as the craft started to rise. It would be five minutes before they touched down again. "OK, lets get our weapons into SpecOps mode." Donny said. He passed out suppressors and scopes. Within 30 seconds each M5A1 was ready for a stealth fight.

"There should be a central computer in the facility. Just input the codes and leave. When they launch the missiles, they won't be heading for Knothole anymore. The ground thumped. They landed. Outside, somebody was unlocking the hatch. When it was opened, the marines unloaded into him. The enemy soldier fell back bleeding.

They quickly exited the ship and aimed their weapons. Postal nailed a guard just before he could call for reinforcements. Donny scoped his gun and delivered a deadly shot to a guard's cranium. Once all the opposition was dead in the bay, the sergeant ordered the squad to get rid of the bodies. Filmore and Postal dragged the bodies into the transport before pools of blood could form showing their existence.

"Ok, the missile control center should be a few hundred meters down this hall." Donny said consulting his PDA. "'Bout damn time." Postal murmured loud enough for the other marines to hear. The door in front of them slid open and they saw the missiles.

There was no question about it. The missiles weren't large. They were HUGE. Each was the size of a small skyscraper. "God damn. This guy is totally serious ain't he?" Filmore noted. Donny looked for the computer station. He saw it in a box above them with a man at the console. "Filmore. Take him down." Filmore nodded. "Yes, sir!"

He scoped the rifle and fired a shot. They saw a splash of blood: A confirmed hit. "Get up to that terminal! Move, move, MOVE!" Donny yelled. His voice echoed in the room. The ladder was rubber-gripped and was easy to hold on to. They didn't dare look down as they made the climb. In the room, one large computer dominated the wall. The blood splash on the window showed where they had hit the solider. He lay on the floor with a bit of his head missing, leaking blood and fluid all over the floor. "Jesus." Postal coughed. Donny averted his gaze. "Alright. Focus people. Who has the override codes?" Postal said, "Me."

He dug into his backpack and retrieved a spoofer. It contained a few terabytes of information on it. Donny was handed the device and he loaded the USB port on it. The screen glowed and a message appeared on screen:

UKN/USR.INFO/K6TBYLL/CNFRM.UPLOAD.DATA (y/n)

Donny quickly located the 'Y' key and pressed it. The screen glowed again and a new message appeared:

DATA UPLOAD COMPLETE.

Donny exhaled. This created a rippling effect on the skull face on his bandana. "Well, that was easy. Come on, let's go." The marines climbed down and set off for the helicopter. No sooner than they exited the firing room, a group of soldiers emerged and started firing. Fimore killed one and wounded another. Postal then saw to it that the limper was killed. Donny also got his share, but exhaled painfully as a lead bullet grazed his arm at an alarming distance. It shredded his sleeve and blood leaked out through the shallow gash. "GOD DAMN!" He yelled. "Shit, the Sarge is hit, Greg!" Filmore told Postal. "Damn you, you bastards!" Greg said proceeding to kill a soldier. Filmore picked up Donny. "Sarge you OK?"

"Yeah, Filmore. I'm OK." He turned his head looking at the dead exiles. "Nice work." Filmore laughed. "Just trying to do my job, sir." Donny laughed too.

They ran for it. Through the streets they encountered resistance. They were no match for the Marines though. They were almost glad to smell the rotting garbage. The helicopter was still there waiting for them. The pilot ran to meet them. "You boys done?" He asked.

"Yeah, just get us out of here man." Donny commanded. The pilot nodded. "You got it, sweetheart!" The Marines laughed with relief. It was over. They were going home.

The team strapped in. They heard rotors whirr and soon, the troop bay door was closed. They felt their stomachs heave as they got airborne. A few soldiers tried shooting at them but it was no use. The helicopter was simply too high. The pilot laughed. "Score one for the good guys. We are outta here gentlemen."

The chopper picked up speed and flew above the mountains. They were too far out of range. Donny could only imagine Morgan's expression when he found out his city had been infiltrated.

Morgan was absolutely furious. Steam was almost blowing out of his ears. "What the hell do you mean they got inside?" He screamed at Ivan, who hastily replied, "They snuck under our radar. We don't even know what they were after. Perhaps it was just a raid. Morgan just wanted to kill Ivan there. He wanted to rip his brain out by the stem and beat him to death with it. He miraculously steadied himself. "Calm yourself, Nate. Remember your blood pressure." He faced his Chief-of-State. "Raids lead to more raids, Ivan. Raids lead to skirmishes. Skirmishes lead to all-out war. I warned them about this and now they'll pay the price."

He opened a line to the missile command. "Make ready to fire the ICBMs." He ordered. The man on the other side said, "How many, my liege?" Morgan's smile took on an insane curl. "All of them."

Donny relaxed. His head hit the bulkhead of the helicopter and he breathed again. He patched up his wound now. Admiral Fredrikson was so happy with his mission. 'You saved a whole lot of lives today, Vennettilli. More than I can count. That's something you can't receive a medal for." Donny smiled a hero's smile. 'That's OK, sir. I did what was expected of me.

Donny heard rumbling behind them. All men looked out the window and saw long streaks of fire emerge from the ground. "The missiles?" Filmore suggested. Donny nodded. They continued into the sky. "Boy he isn't going to be happy when he finds out they won't be killing us today. They laughed some more. Postal pulled out a few beers and they had a celebratory drink.

The missiles shot into space, not tilting back towards the planet like they were programmed. Instead, they arched toward the sun and made the journey there instead. All was well on Mobius.

As soon as the helicopter landed, the one person Donny hoped would be there was. Mindy was waiting for him. She wore a bright yellow shirt with jeans. She gasped when she saw the bullet wound. "It's just a graze." He told her. "I'm so happy you came back." She said. "I'm happy too. You're safe now." She smiled widely and grabbed him in a tight hug. "Donny, thank you." She kissed him on the cheek and rested her head on his shoulder. The embraced pair was outlined by the setting sun, truly in love.

Morgan was furious. He had killed over ten scientists and personally threw his head of security out the window with new bionic upgrades in his arms and legs. "Those sons of bitches sabotaged my missiles! They ruined my plans!" He screamed and shot at random people, hitting them and destroying equipment at once. "That's it. I will build a missile and launch it myself. I will personally destroy what's left of the doctor's people."


	8. Chapter 8: Birth and Death

Chapter 8: Birth and Death

Chapter 8: Birth and Death

Mobius August 12th 2193

Knothole City

Donny Vennettilli had never been in love before. Not like this. There was a slight difference from seeing a stunning model and actually being with a woman who understands you. Even if this woman wasn't exactly human, she was the person the human would choose to spend his life with. Even though she was only 18 and he was 19, they were pretty serious. They had been spending lots of time together too.

One day, Patricia visited the pair. She was quite large at this time. The pair already knew she was pregnant. "Hey, you two." She said and hugged them. "Hey, Patricia." Mindy said. "How's the baby coming?" Aaron smiled. "He's coming quite nice. The doctor said it was only a matter of time. I took an ultrasound a while ago. I'm really excited." Donny beamed at her. "Have you thought of a name?" She nodded. "Yes, Nicholas. It was…" her smile faltered. "It was Matthew's father's name."

Donny missed his friend. It had been a little while since he died. The Universe just wasn't the same without Matthew Mobius in it. "He would be proud, Trish." He told her. She smiled and hugged him. "You're sweet, Don. I also wanted to ask Mindy a question." The female squirrel's ears twitched at her name. "What is it, Patricia?"

"Will you be the godmother?" Mindy was taken aback. She was overwhelmed with emotion. It was the closest to being family with Aaron and unborn Nicholas. "Yes, yes I will. Patricia. Nothing will make me any happier." Aaron smiled again and hugged Mindy. Donny offered her a drink of any sort. She shook her head. "Sorry, Don, but I can't. I have to go tell the others. Besides, I have to keep the baby healthy. Thank you anyway." She exited the house. Mindy was impressed easily. She almost jumped into Donny's arms. "Godmother, Donny! _Godmother_!" The human smiled. "You're pretty excited aren't you?" "No kidding! Wait until I tell my mother!" She kissed her favorite human twice on each cheek and said, "I'll be back soon!" She slipped on her shoes and put on a light coat. She closed the door behind her to leave Donny alone.

Despite being alone, the human was as happy as he could be. He, Greg and Filmore had saved everyone on Mobius. He was forever honored, and Nathaniel Morgan hadn't so much pestered them for nearly two months. Donny didn't know how it could be better.

Two months. Two months of blood and sweat. That's how much work had been put into this nuclear missile. 10 megatons. Half of what the Tigers were. There was nothing left of the Magnolia at this time so the metal had to be drawn from the ground manually and reserve plutonium was infused. Thankfully there were more than enough detonators though. Nate Morgan stood proud. He watched loyal mechanics check to see if every plate on the missile was as tight as it could be. Any radiation leaks were detected and patched by men with RAD-Suits.

Ivan Kintobor watched his emperor. For months now all he could do was complain and complain. Now, he was in the best mood of his life on Mobius. He then glanced at the missile. Well, it wasn't as powerful as the 100 that were launched into the sun, but it would get the job done. "Sir," Ivan asked, "when will we launch the missile?"

Morgan gave a simple answer. "Upon completion." And Ivan smiled. Sweet victory. No Marine Corps Special Ops unit could stop them now.

"Make ready the missile!" Morgan shouted through a mike. Morgana read off the missile status. "All personnel please evacuate firing tube. Seal all exits, open all blast diversion tunnels."

Below them, tunnels that led out of the city unsealed. The blast would be diverted here so it wouldn't travel up the tube itself. "Missile status operational. No RAD leaks detected." Morgan was giddy when he heard those words. "Detaching umbilicals."

The tiny tubes that fed the missile power fell away from the hull hissing coolant. "Launch Condition green." Morgan keyed the microphone. "Fire."

The missile's engines flared. Flames shot out and were blasted down the tubes. As the rocket revved up, it was kept in place by explosive bolts. After it reached sufficient torque, the blot was detonated. The small bang wasn't even audible.

The missile rose into the sky, ready to destroy its target. It would fly into orbit, reconfigure itself, and then impact on Knothole. Morgan gave a laugh that sent a chill down Ivan's spine.

Intel detected the missile just after it left the gantry. There would be no chances taken here. "How much time do we have, Lieutenant?" Fredrikson asked. The junior officer did a few calculations. "Four hours. Orders, sir?" Fredrikson was silent for a few minutes. He then answered, "How strong are those shelters we built a few years back?" The lieutenant checked in again. "Able to withstand 50 megatons and can survive a fallout of three entire years. We'll be safe against that missile." Fredrikson nodded. "Alright, get everyone into those shelters. We have 4 hours! Lets move people!"

Donny Vennettilli heard the sirens while he was asleep. He bolted upwards and drew his M9 Beretta from under his pillow and clicked off the safety. After glancing around and deducing that nobody was there, he placed the handgun on the nightstand next to his bed and listened to the message:

"All Citizens, this is a Code Red, repeat, Code Red. Enemy nuclear missile has been detected. All citizens are to report to nuclear fallout shelters immediately!" Donny's eyes grew wide. _I thought we destroyed those missiles! He must've built one more!_

Donny took a pack of his things and placed his Marine patrol cap on his head. He slotted his Beretta into his holster and bolted out the door joining the group of people who were heading for the underground tunnels. Never once he looked back at what had been his home for years. Right now there were more important things.

The shelter wasn't necessarily a single installation. In fact, it was multiple structures connected by wide tunnels. They held enough room for all the citizens and they had diverted annual crops into a special storage tank in case something like this happened. They entrance to the shelters was guarded by a Marine outpost with an official looking building next to it. At this time however, all the Mobians were rushing down them, guided in by uniformed men. Cars, trucks, and personal transports cluttered the way in with thousands of panicking civilians surrounding them like cells in a body surrounding viruses.

Donny caught up with Fredrikson who was inside an M9 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The vehicle's door was open and Donny climbed in. "Sir," he saluted. Fedrikson glanced up, saluted back, and turned back towards the TAC-map. "Come in, Sergeant. We're just deciding what to do about the outer townships. We don't have emergency broadcasts in those areas." Donny thought sadly about the families that would never know that their lives were about to end. "Well, we can't give up hope. Maybe they set up radiation shelters in their homes." The older man nodded. "Maybe, but we can't be sure." He then changed the subject. "Sergeant, this missile's trajectory just passes over fifty thousand kilometers away from out fleet. Do you think it would be wise to try and fire on the missile?" Donny thought about this. "Fire on it, sir?" The admiral nodded. "Well, judging on its speed, it would be damn near impossible to hit something traveling this fast. We can possible alter its trajectory provided it's low enough in the atmosphere to be altered by wind current." "Precisely what I was thinking." He tapped the map with his baton. We launch one of our Mass Driver slugs into the trajectory of the missile, and drive its course somewhere else, possibly into the ocean. If by some off-chance that we destroy it, bonus, and we call off the crisis."

"Sounds pretty solid sir. I think there's a good chance it will work." Fredrikson stared. "Are you saying that from the heart, Sergeant? Because now, lives are at stake."

Donny took a breath. "Yes, sir. This is honest. We need to do what we need to do."

Fredrikson nodded. "Very well. I'll relay the orders and we wait. In the meantime, we're getting underground.

The Bradley hummed as the engines drove it into the tunnel. Once the fighting vehicle safely crossed the threshold, the large metal bulkheads slammed over the entrance. They were sealed in, safe from harm.

The nuclear missile cut through the clouds of Mobius with ease. Soon, the ICBM was coasting through space. Maneuvering thrusters put the deadly ballistic weapon into place. Coordinates from MegaCentral were inputted to the missile and with its target received, it dove back into the atmosphere to deliver the deadly blow.

Thankfully, the _Enterprise _was on station to help out. The commander steadied the ship to get ready to fire this one shot. "Alright, people. Prepare to fire!" He told the TAC officer. "Yes, sir!" the young man turned to the console. "All hands, prepare for Mass Driver discharge. Brace for blowback!"

The Mass Driver belched a supersonic slug straight at the missile. A hit wasn't guaranteed. With only a few inches to space, the slug passed the missile. Since the ballistic was low enough in the atmosphere to be altered by air current, the missile's trajectory was thrown off. The _Enterprise_'s crew applauded as the missile flew away from the city.

While the missile would not score a direct hit, a rocky landing was imminent. The missile streaked down and impacted only 200 miles from Knothole. The bright light blinded anyone unfortunate enough to still be on the planet's surface at the time. The heat vaporized everything within a half mile of the impact and huge shockwaves swishing across the landscape. Small homesteads were blown away, trees uprooted, and rocks hurled. The sudden vacuum pulled in whatever wasn't tied down. This vacuum fed the deadly mushroom cloud that grew over the horizon.

Morgan didn't bother sending a search party. He was simply to glad that his plan worked at all and was giddy. "Ha Ha! They're gone, Ivan! We won!" Kintobor forced a smile. "Yes, sir, a brilliant tactic. It appears that there's no more opposition."

Morgan could have searched the city, but why bother? Even if anything did manage to survive the explosion, there would be enough fallout to kill the entire population. Morgan had thought of this of course and created special biotic upgrades that were implanted into his body. Slowly, the exiles grew more machine; adapting to the environment that they created. They had no idea that the entire population had taken cover a mere kilometer below their feet. And they were preparing to fight back."

Life belowground wasn't all that bad. The scientists had created artificial sunlight, which supplied the Mobians with warmth. The citizens grew their food mainly through hydroponics. It was a little tough getting used to at first, but eventually everyone was adapted to underground life.

Donny Vennettilli missed the surface. They had been underground for around two months now. The radiation had still not dissipated. One of his duties underground was to monitor the exiles, or Overlanders as the Marines called them. They were called this because only they could live above the land while the baseline humans and anthros were living underground.

At this time, Donny was signing off his shift from the Marine Law Enforcement post. There wasn't a whole lot of crime down here but he got paid, and he got paid well. When Donny had walked out of the station he was greeted by Mindy. "Donny! Thank God! I'm so glad I found you!" Donny could sense grief in her voice. "What's wrong, Mindy?" The squirrel looked up at him, tears were rolling down her face. "Patricia's dying."

The Matthew Mobius Memorial Medical center was a fairly large structure even for a hastily built model. The halls were clean, the doctors were sterile, and the fatality rating was almost zero. Mindy led Donny in and asked for Patricia Aaron. "Oh, you'd better get up to her right away. Things aren't going well." The orderly explained. Donny cursed and the pair made a dash for the elevator. There wasn't much time.

Patricia's room was on the third floor: Childbirth. Donny shuddered. This was not the way to go. Mindy navigated the halls around dashing orderlies wearing blue scrubs. Finally, they located the room. Mindy gingerly opened the door; Patricia Aaron lay in bed breathing shallowly. The mid-aged doctor adding her held a blanketed mass in his hands. He wore a look of utter surprise and astonishment. He looked at Mindy and said, "Are you the godmother?" Mindy nodded. "Yes." The doctor handed the bundle to her. It was very warm. She took a look inside and gasped.

In the blanketed mass was something that made the pair gasp: A baby boy. Only this baby boy wasn't human. It was a squirrel anthro. "Oh my God." Donny said softly. He baby boy's eyes were shut tightly. His body was covered in fur and a small tuft of red hair was on his head. He didn't cry.

The baby sensed Mindy's touch and opened his eyes. They were bright blue just like his mother's. He saw Mindy and reached for her. His tiny arms waved in the air. "He's so beautiful." Mindy said smiling widely. Suddenly, Donny tapped her shoulder. "Hey, Min'. You might wanna get over here."

Patricia Aaron opened her eyes a crack. She smiled at them. "Well, I was about to think you'd never come." Her voice was soft. Donny knew that soft. It was the sort of soft his mother spoke to him in just before she died. "How you feeling?" Donny asked. Aaron's smile was replaced with a deep frown. "I'm dying. I don't know why." Mindy looked at Patricia. "No, no. Don't say that!" The human shook her head. "He is Matthew's son. His name is Nicholas. Look after him for me." Donny was close to the dying woman. "Stay with us, Trish. Don't go." She smiled a sad smile. She muttered, "Matthew" and her hand dropped. Her blue eyes shone in the light. The EKG confirmed that her vitals flat-lined.

The baby boy began to cry. Donny had never heard this cry. It was a cry for longing. Little Nicholas had no parents. He was an orphan now.

Mindy gingerly picked up the baby and tried to comfort him. "C-calm down." She said sobbing. "A-auntie Mindy's here. Auntie's here." She tried not to look at the doctor as he closed Patricia's blank eyes, folded her arms and placed the white linen cloth over her face. Another tear streamed down her face. "Auntie's here."

"So, what do we do with the child?" Fredrikson asked Donny in the makeshift government building. Donny took a breath. "Well, he is the doctor's son. In turn, doesn't that make him his successor?" The admiral took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well yes. He can take the head, but he's way too young. He's going to need education, and lots of training." He stared at the baby that Donny brought with him. Mindy was feeding him a bottle of milk. "Its amazing isn't it?" Fredrikson asked. "What, sir?" "The fact that a human female gave birth to an anthro child." "It may be the DNA sir. When Patricia got pregnant, she received the squirrel DNA from Mattew, which was fused with his own DNA. The resulting combination made the hybrid meiosis. Actually, there was a three-in-four chance that Patricia would have had an anthro baby." The admiral raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's interesting."

Donny took a breath. "Well, I guess I got this fathering stuff thrust upon myself." He chuckled. So did Fredrikson. "Well, just consider it another assignment." "I don't know if I'll be able to tackle this assignment, sir." The admiral laughed. "That's what I said when my son was born." "But he's not my son." Donny protested. "I can never be his father." Fredrikson didn't have anything to add. He stared at the little baby. "Nicholas Aaron. Catchy name.

"Well sir, he doesn't look much like an Aaron." "Well what does he look like?" Donny picked up the child and looked into his face. "He looks like an Acorn, sir." Fredrikson did a double take. "'Acorn'? Vennettilli, are you serious?" Mindy looked at young Nicholas. "He likes it, sir!" and so he did. The baby squirrel smiled. Fredrikson sat down. "Alright. Nicholas Acorn." He scrutinized Donny and Mindy. "The kid is your responsibility until we get him where we need him. Looks like he's your unofficial foster child."

"Yes, sir!" Donny saluted. Mindy just hugged the child. "We'll do what it takes, Admiral."

At Donny's home, the human placed Nicholas inside a drawer stuffed with blankets and pillows. There wasn't any other safe place in the house so this would do. Mindy wrapped her arms around Donny's neck. "You know, I'm real proud of you for taking him in. It was real mature of you." Donny smiled and said, "Thank you." The two kissed. Mindy grabbed Donny's dogtags from behind and started twisting them around her finger. Donny got the message and took off his shirt.

Mindy watched him take the shirt off and started to feel his muscles. "Ooh, you must be very strong." "I'm Marine tough, toots." "Lets see how tough you are." She smiled. She also discarded her shirt and the two made their way towards the bedroom.

It was a weird experience. Not unpleasant, just different. Donny had never been with anyone before and therefore was new to the experience. Mindy was also doing this for the first time so it was a learning experience for both of them. The interaction only lasted around an hour, and then they both collapsed exhausted into the bed.

"That was AMAZING!" Mindy breathed. "Yeah, ditto." Donny added. The female squirrel pressed up against him, sliding his shoulder in between her breasts. "That was so much fun. We have to do it again sometime." The Marine smiled. "We could try again tomorrow if you'd like." "That'd be great!" Suddenly, there was a cry from the next room.

"Wow, it's a lot scarier when it begins." Donny said. "Who's taking care of him?"

Mindy shrugged. "You get him. I can barely stand." "You're just making excuses." "Will you go already?" She laughed and pointed to the noise. "Jesus! Fine, I'm taking care of it. It's you job tomorrow, though."


	9. Chapter 9: Open Conflict

Chapter 9: Open Conflict

Chapter 9: Open Conflict

November 22nd 2204

Underground

The life under he earth was really starting to take its toll on the Mobians. Humans were affected mostly because they had really no experience living down here. Also, a strange virus had been cropping up here and there. And it appeared that humans only caught the strange disease. Bodies were stacking up faster than the recyclers could cremate them. In a little more than 10 years, Knothole's population of close to 2 million whittled down to half that.

Donny thankfully, was immune to the virus and therefore lived. He and Mindy were happily married now, but they weren't talking about kids yet. They already had enough on their mind with Nicholas growing up. The young anthro was ten years old at this time. He was told at a young age that his mother and father were dead and he had since come to terms with it. He was even told that he would be his father's successor.

At this news he was thrilled. "Really? I'm going to be ruler?" Donny then told him, "Well, not exactly yet. You're still a bit too young. When the time comes, and you prove yourself, you'll have the chance."

Nicholas was training under Admiral Fredrikson, who kept his title despite the fact that there was no navy underground. The anthro practiced hand-to-hand combat, melee, and firearm training. He was in the firing pits that day training with an M5A1. The assault rifle held .22 caliber rounds that were basically used for survival rifles in the wild. As he squeezed off rounds, the Admiral tracked his progress.

Nicholas was a fair sharpshooter. Most of his shots were placed in a ten-centimeter spread over the paper target's torso. The old man smiled widely. He was going to make a great Marine if they ever got back to the surface. The paper targets were shaped just like Overlanders that Donny had fought ten years ago. As he squeezed off each round, Nick muttered a fancy line from a human movie. Today, he was quoting 'Terminator'.

"_Hasta la vista, baby_!" he said with a forced Austrian accent. The weapon then ran dry and the firing pin dropped. "Cease fire." Fredrikson told the young Mobian, who's ears twitched at the sound of the admiral's voice. "How did I do?" Nick asked in anticipation.

"No bad, actually. You fired 120 shots; about 100 of those shots landed on targets and 60 of those were inside the critical zones. A ranking of 83.33 percent accuracy overall. Well done, Acorn. I think you'll be ready to shoot some Overlanders soon." Nicholas smiled. "Thanks, Admiral." The door slid open behind them. Donny walked in.

"Well, well, well. Teaching the boy how to shoot?" "Indeed, Lieutenant. How's the missus?" Donny took his cap off. "She's doing pretty good." He glanced at the rifle in the young Mobian's hands. "Is he OK to have that?" "Yes, Lieutenant. They're .22 rounds. They won't kill anyone unless he points them at the face. "How's he doing in academics?" Fredrikson took out a datapad.

"English: A, Spanish: B, Earth history: A, Mathematics: C-, PE: B-, Computers: A. Honestly, Donny. I'm beginning to think you ARE trying to be his father." Donny smiled and tousled the boy's hair who giggled. "Well, I made Trish a promise. I'm just looking out for the kid." "I respect that son. I think Nick here may make a wonderful Marine."

"Sir, Nick's going to take over Knothole. I don't want him just to gamble his life away doing Marine work." "That's ironic, coming from you, Lieutenant." "Yes, but I'm not as important to the people as he is." "Again, you're contradicting yourself. Who stopped the missiles?" "Don't do this, sir. Please." But the old man persisted, speaking in an amused voice "Who stopped the missiles?" Donny gave in. "I did." Fredrikosn smiled. "Who decided to take in Matthew Mobius' only son and keep him safe until the day he rules?" "I did." "And who, might I ask, has been working around the clock non-stop for ten years trying to keep our little community together while all hell is breaking loose above ground." "I did?" "That's right." The navy man smiled. "See? You're every bit as important as Nick here." The anthro didn't speak for a moment but looked at Donny.

"So I'll never get to fight?" Donny shrugged. "With luck, no. But to tell you the truth, we're all rusty. Even if we did happen to get out and start up a war, we'll all be decimated. We've been underground for 10 years. You've never even seen the surface, not even as a child." "Well, that puts a life goal in place, then. I want to see the surface."

Just then, the COM unit activated: "Admiral Fredrikson, this is Ops. You may want to get up here. Its about the radiation." "On my way." He turned to Donny and Nicholas. "You two can come. Leave the rifle, Acorn." Nicholas sighed and dropped the M5. He then caught up with the others.

Ops was a circular room in the government building. Computer panels dotted the walls and people sat in chairs attending to them. Fredrikson went to the Radiation Control station where a young man in his twenties was monitoring surface radiation levels. He acknowledged the Admiral with a salute. The old man returned the gesture and the young man started talking.

"Sir, if I'm reading this levels correctly, I believe that the radiation has in fact dissipated enough to allow us to survive on the surface." Fredrikson smiled. "That's fantastic! Wonderful news!"

Donny put a hand on Nick's shoulder. The young anthro beamed enthusiastically. "Looks like you're going to see the surface after all." Donny told him.

The small group of humans and one anthro stood at the airlock that led to the surface. A Marine keyed in the code on a panel and stood back. Somewhere, a Klaxon sounded and the doors began to retreat into the roof.

Slowly, light crept in and ascended up the walls. When it reached head level the group had to shield their eyes. It was as beautiful as they last saw it. Sweet, unpolluted air filled every nostril, reviving the long lost love for the surface. Nicholas could barely believe his eyes. His tail was swishing with excitement. "Wow! This is the surface?" Donny smiled and nodded. "Yup."

Nature had taken a hold of things. Even after ten years, there was a whole lot of change. Grass was taller in many places, plenty of trees were more mature, ivy had crawled up some buildings and some cars were rusted, beaten down by oxygen erosion.

It was all so marvelous to Nicholas, who had never seen anything more than holovids of ancient Earth through the 19th to 21st century. "Donny, did Earth really look like this a long time ago?" The Marine nodded. "It sure did, Nick. I lived on Earth until I was 15. That's when your father selected me for the mission to colonize this place, which we found by accident." "Donny, can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it, Nick?" "A heard that my father's grave was in this city somewhere. Can I go see it?" Donny nodded. He needed to know what his father looked like and who he was. "Sir, I'm taking Nicholas to Mobius." Fredrikson nodded. "Very well, but take Percy and Little with you." Henry Percy and Adam Little marched up to the Lieutenant. They saluted. "At ease, boys. We're just taking the kid for a walk." "Yes, sir!" Henry said.

"I used to live in this building." Donny said pointing to the government building. "It's where I met auntie Mindy." Nick looked up at Donny. "Wasn't she smaller than I was when you first met her?" "Yes, but she grew very quickly. She and your father were best friends while she was growing up."

"Damn." Henry noted while they walked past a fountain. "It looks like this place was turned over." Indeed, the fountain was pockmarked with bullet holes. "Probably looters." Adam said. Donny looked straight up ahead. "We're here."

The tombstone was a statue of Matthew in a lab coat. His unseeing eyes looked into the rising sun. The coat looking like it was blowing in the wind, but was, in reality, carved from stone. A single pad was at the foot of the statue. It flickered with some power still in it. Donny tapped the screen. A message came up:

MATTHEW ALEXANDER MOBIUS. BORN: MAY 22nd 2162 DIED: JUNE 2nd 2193

A small description of Mobius scrolled across the screen, saying where he was born, what he did, the Discovery of planet Mobius, and his death. A video was also included that showed Matthew at his graduation from MIT: A smiling young man that received the top honors with pride. Beside him, Nicholas sadly surveyed the video.

"I'm sorry I didn't know him." He told his friend. "I wish I could have met him." Donny placed a hand on his shoulder. "I wish that you could have. He was a wonderful man, the doctor. He'd be proud of you for following in his footsteps, Nicholas." Just then, they heard motors revving up.

Donny plucked the M9 Beretta pistol from his belt. He clicked off the safety. Henry and Adam each drew an M5A1. Twin hoverbikes screamed over a wall. The riders looked at the marines. As soon as the bikes landed, the engines were cut and the Overlanders stepped from their vehicles. "Well, well, well. What do we have here, boys?" Each Overlander had a pistol as well. "I thought humans had died out."

The Marines steadied their aim. "You're human too." Adam piped up with his iornsight on the lead Overlander's chest. "We're not human anymore. We are the dominant species on this plant. We stood up to the radiation and we came out reborn and we took this planet for our own." The leader held his arm out and revealed a metal prosthetic it clutched a laser pistol. It looked like it could put a hole through someone easy. "But if you're here," The one in the back said, leaning on the hoverbike, "Then they're more with you. Where's he kid's mother?" He said gesturing to Nicholas with his pistol. "She's dead." Donny confessed, "And it'll be no use to you if we tell you where they are."

"Are you sure?" The leader asked now pointing the laser gun at Donny's heart. A strange eyepiece swing over his left eye and a laser sight came from the gun. "Well, if we can't get where with that information, we're just going to have to kill you and search the city for your little hidey-hole. How about co-operating for a change, pal?" "Go to hell, you assholes." Donny said.

The leader discharged his pistol. The laser bored straight into Donny's chest. No military presence was anticipated and he had not worn his body armor. The charge went into his chest a few centimeters below the heart. It didn't hurt at all, strangely enough.

Nicholas screamed, "No!" as he saw his friend go down. Adam and Henry opened up on the Overlanders. A three-round burst from Henry tore one man's head apart and a similar burst from Adam to the chest of the second Overlander made him convulse and fall in a pool of his own blood. The third got on his bike. He was just about to get away when Henry placed a good shot at the fuel tank. The bike disintegrated in a fiery ball, taking the pilot with it. The pair lowered their weapons and knelt beside Donny.

The Lieutenant clutched the small hole to stop the bleeding. The heat cauterized most of his wounds, but some blood leaked out. "Someone get me a goddamned medic!" He said through gritted teeth. "Donny! We'll get you help!" Nick said. He turned to Adam and Henry. "Get him back to Fredrikson!" He commanded. The Marined picked up their commander and carried him back to the tunnel. Nicholas nearly smiled as he embraced the authority.

Fredrikson was waiting at the tunnel. "What the hell happened to him?" the admiral cried as Donny was brought to him. "Get him a goddamned stretcher! Move!" He commanded two medical officers who were standing nearby. "Vennettilli, are you OK?"

Donny opened his eyes a crack. "I can't feel my abdomen." He said seriously. Fredrikson was aghast. No, it couldn't be like this. Donny Vennettilli, one of the toughest goddamned marines on Mobius who waded into MegaCentral balls-deep with Overlanders. Now he was placed on a stretcher, possibly dying. Nicholas began to cry.

The admiral walked over, knelt down and embraced the young squirrel. Only 10 years old and he was exposed to the realities of war. He could feel Nick's jaw going up and down as he cried. "He'll be alright." Fredrikson assured the young Acorn child. But Fredrikson knew that he would possibly die with a laser wound like that. Donny was the closest thing to a father that Nicholas Acorn had. It would destroy him if Donny died.

"No, NO! Donny!" Mindy screamed as his stretcher was rolled to the hospital. She ran up to him with tears in her eyes. A laser wound had cut through his ammunition vest and into his body. There was a small amount of blood leaking out. Some citizens gathered around. Some parents shielded their offspring's eyes at the sight. Donny's mouth moved, "Min," he whispered. "Donny, oh, my brave Donny. What did they do to you?" Donny opened his eyes too. The glow from his green eyes was quickly leaving. "Min, our time down here is over. We can start anew. Reestablish society." She nodded, clasping his hand. "Nick, he'll try to avenge me. If he wants to, don't try to stop him. He's a good kid." Mindy said, "Donny, I don't want you to die." This made Donny sad. He frowned slightly. "Hell, we all die. We can't stay here forever. My time would have come one of these days. I'm just sad I'll never see Nicholas become the man everyone knows he could be."

Mindy cried even harder. "Don't leave me, Donny! Don't leave me alone! Please! I love you, Donny!" Donny coughed. "I love you too, Min. But you can't do anything. Be happy, find love again, have children even. Just don't forget me." Mindy glanced into Donny's eyes. He started crying. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be the perfect husband. I'm sorry if I've ever made you feel unhappy." Mindy wiped his tears away. "I always loved you, Donny. I always will. She kissed him. He kissed her back. When they broke apart, Donny smiled, laughed and said, "That's the damn point of life I guess." He coughed and his hand dropped. His face straightened and his eyes were open and blank.

"No, Donny! No!" she cried. But the fact was, Donny Vennettilli was dead. Dead at thirty-nine years old by a laser blast to the heart. Mindy collapsed onto his hospital bed (they had moved to a ward during the conversation). And wept over her husband's body. She thought of their wedding day when she had gladly taken his name, Mindy Vennettilli. That was a glorious day, all the good times since then, shattered by this dreadful event.

Nicholas was shocked by the news. He was so mad he slammed his fist into the metal wall with so much anger he dented it. "YOU SAID HE WOULD BE FINE!" He cried. Tears streaked down his cheeks so quick, they were like tiny fountains. "YOU SAID HE WOULD BE ALIVE, DAMN IT!" He yelled at Fredrikson. "HE'S DEAD NOW!"

Fredrikson was shocked at Nicholas's anger. They young man had lost his father and he had just lost his best friend, but he reacted in a way that shocked him. He secretly realized that this could be their secret weapon. And deep down, Fredrikson knew that Nicholas would want to avenge Donny.

Donny Vennettilli would be cremated just like any other man that died in the underground Mobian society. He would also be the first human to die in personal combat with an Overlander. His funeral procession involved many friends. Mindy stood solemnly with the same black veil she wore ten years ago at Matthew's funeral. Even Nicholas dressed up. The black suit had a matching tie that contrasted his appearance. Marines stood guard ready to give the same salutes and honors that were expected of their brethren. The honor guards consisted of two anthros and five humans. The furry Mobians were a hedgehog with dyed black quills and a stone-faced wolf. The Lieutenant's body was burned into dust that day.

Mindy Vennettilli would find love again in the later years. She had dropped her family name in sadness and loss for her late husband. She married another squirrel and they raised children. Never once did Mindy go a single day without thinking about Donny.

Nicholas had grown into a fine young man. He was now 18 years of age, fully schooled and trained, ready to take on the men who killed his friend. He was ready to lead this planet. He was ready to rule.


	10. Chapter 10: Rise of Monarchy

Chapter 10: Rise of Monarchy Chapter 10: Rise of Monarchy

April 3rd 2212

Knothole City

Nicholas sat in a chair in the den of Pete Fredrikson. The admiral had finally retired from the military at an age of 62 years. The old man had many scars from combat, but his pride was as strong as ever, if not rejuvenated over the years. Pete had invited him here for a special talk as soon as Nick had hit his 18th birthday.

Pete himself had fallen to time. He was walking with a cane now since his left leg had become stiff. He scrutinized Nicholas with strong eyes. He smiled. Nicholas smiled too and asked, "Sir, why have you called me here today?" The old man scoffed. "You don't need to call me sir anymore. I'm retired, and I have a big fat pension to prove it." Nick cracked a small smile. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just not used to leaving this all behind. You were a great teacher." "Don't flatter me, boy. How's Mindy? I hear she's doing well with Vann. She has four kids now, right?" "Yeah, she invites me over every week." Fredrikson stared thoughtfully.

"I remember you when you were just a baby. You hardly ever cried. You were tough. You weren't afraid to pull ahead and show your true potential." And Fredrikson had told _him_ not to flatter. "All through your youth you surprised me every way imaginable. You won tournaments, won support from classmates, and you never backed down." He sighed. "I guess the reason I called you here was a final talk before you took hold of the reins."

Nicholas leaned forward. His tail twitched in excitement. "Its about how to rule a people. It's how to govern them. I know you may think you know what ruling is all about, but its so much more." He got up and paced. "More, sir?" Nicholas said eagerly. "Yeah. To rule a people, you must be one with the people. You must become one with their thoughts and one with their words." "I don't understand." "You must work with them to better yourselves because, in a sense, you are the people." "Sir?" "You must make a government in which the people will respect you. A respected leader will go much farther than one who is disliked."

A memory of a President of the United States of America came to mind. He was heartily disliked by his people and he was thrown out in just over a year of service. Nick thought of Adolf Hitler, a major communist superpower of the 20th century. The fuehrer was possibly the most feared ruler in the world at the time. He didn't want to be that.

"You must be willing to give your life for your people. Your courage will bolster their confidence in you and they will have your back every step of the way." His eyes opened wider. "Hold on, my boy. I have something for you. Something my father gave me."

Fredrikson walked to a large chest in the back of his room. After rummaging around in it for a good few minutes, he retrieved a wrapped package. "There. That's for you, son." Nicholas opened the package and inside, a gleaming longsword lay inside. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was polished so finely that it seemed to omit its own light. After squinting for a few moments on the hilt, he recognized his surname, '_Acorn'_ engraved into the hilt.

The young Mobian smiled widely. The jewels all over the sword were authentic. "Sir, I-I…" Fredrikson smiled. "I thought it was fitting for you to have an heirloom to give to your children. I mean, you want to make a dynasty here, right?" It was all so wonderful. He embraced Fredrikson with appreciation. "You didn't have to." "But I wanted to. It's your party now, son."

"Today, I stand before a nation." Nicholas said in a loud voice from the Government building. Citizens from the city stood around him. "A nation that needs a leader. A strong leader that would be willing to go to no ends to protect them. Ladies and gentlemen, I am that leader." A few citizens whispered with anticipation. "My father, Matthew Mobius, was a loved man of this planet. Every man woman and child looked up to him. He deserved every scrap of our respect. He was taken from us at a young age. He never was able to put his plans for peace in motion. I wish to complete this plan for you. If I am truly my father's son, I will put the people first. The people's word shall be heard, the people are the future and I wish to protect the future." Many people now paid attention.

"I want to build on the foundation of a kingdom. I want every one of my descendants to look upon you and see the future in front of them. I want them to know that there is nothing more important than you, Children of Mobius. I beg you, don't dishonor the soul of my father. We shall remain united under God as a nation. Let me be your leader to protect you and keep you safe from harm. Let me be your king."

Applause broke from the crowd. Nicholas looked upon them with joy. He was their leader. A chorus from the people started. They chanted "Hail King Acorn! Hail King Acorn!" over and over again. He stared up into the heavens as the sun shone on his new kingdom. "I did it, dad." He spoke softly. "I'm going to make a difference."

From his window in the government building, Pete Fredrikson smiled. "Well done, my boy." He whispered.

Nicholas wandered the halls of the government building. _King Acorn_, he thought to himself. The title hadn't yet sunk in. He didn't have a castle at all so the building therefore qualified as the palace. The region was renamed Knothole Kingdom in honor of its new monarchy.

He sat down in a chair in the large entrance hall. He looked at his sword again as he had a few times over the hours. His gaze still locked on his name engraved on the hilt, surrounded by jewels. He suddenly looked and saw a reflection on the blade. He looked up to see Pete Fredrikson. He smiled warmly.

"Oh, hello, sir." Nicholas greeted. "You did well, son." The old man said. "I just did as you told me to." "Yes, and you did more." Nick cocked an eyebrow. "More?" "Of course more. I only told you what you should say, you promised to be the man your father was. You meant that, right?" the young king shrugged. "Every word." "Good, then you should follow up on your agreements." "What do you mean?"

Fredrikson sighed. "There's been a confirmed sighting of Overlanders in the surrounding area. Sensors determined that the detachment is approximately 20 miles to the Northwest, just a light troop. However, if we didn't find them, they would have torn us apart. Nicholas pieced the information together. "Let me guess, you want _me_ to go and stop them, right?"

"Well not you alone, my boy. You'll need to take some Marines with you, of course, but this is your chance to prove yourself to your people. This is your chance to make them believe in you." Nicholas looked up at Fredrikson. "I'm ready." He said solemnly. "That's my boy. But of course, every great leader needs a ride." "Sir?"

The hoverbikes that were recovered 8 years ago were now being manufactured. Mainly for military flash recon troops, but a small number for the general public. Nick was riding one into combat.

The young king had his personalized to his command. The bike was in the style of an Earth chopper motorcycle with twin machine guns attached to where the wheels would have been. Marines were riding in vehicles that would be used to combat the Overlander force.

"All vehicles get ready to ride." He commanded the cars. They started their engines and revved them with anticipation. Nicholas started his engines and twisted the accelerator. Small puffs of ion energy came out the tailpipes. He gunned it and the hoverbike sped out of the hangar. The military vehicles followed.

Their target was a stretch of grassland roughly 20 miles from the city. They reached it in 20 minutes easy. They were traveling so fast that when they encountered the enemy force, they had no idea what hit them.

Nick sliced through a robot with his sword. The others turned to track the bike but it was going far too fast. Assault rifle barks were heard over the hill as the remaining vehicles appeared and hammered the Overlander troops. Bullets punctured flesh and metal as the Mobian force overpowered the enemy. The young king kept racking up kills as his bike swooped in and out. He blew away multiple soldiers with his twin machine guns and diced ground troops with his sword. In a little less than an hour, the entire Overlander strike force was decimated. The Marines had not lost a single man that day despite their absence from battle for close to 18 years.

Triumphantly, Nicholas stood in front of his force and raised his blood and oil soaked sword. It gleamed brightly however. "My friends, today we have won our first battle. Other forces remain. We can intimidate the others so they will retreat to MegaCentral. With luck, we can get them away from here forever. Great work everyone!" The Marines cheered. Their leader had fearlessly looked into death's face, and laughed.

Ivan Kintobor stood an old man. He walked towards his ruler. "My lord, Morgan." Ivan started. "What is it, Kintobor?" "Sir, I've just received word of our invasion force to the south." "Well, what is it?" "Sir, it appears that they just, died."

Morgan turned to face Ivan. The Head of State recoiled. Morgan had transformed into a metal monster in the timeframe of two decades. His arms were metallic, his eyes were replaced with artificial eyes that glowed red, and organs had been replaced. He was a cyborg to the core. "Died, Ivan?" Ivan swallowed. "Y-Yes, sir." Morgan turned to the viewscreen punching up his tactical command of New America. Of all the circles, only one was an X. An X meant that the army was out of commission. Suddenly, the army in the Great Desert winked to an X as well. "What is happening?" he asked the Chief of State with the layer of death on his voice.

"I-I'm not sure." Ivan stammered. His moustache was beginning to matt to his face. "I think it's sort of obvious." He paused for dramatic effect. "The Mobians have come out of hiding. After 18 long years, they work up enough courage to show their faces. I do have to say, kudos to them for making a surprise entrance. That force was originally meant to demolish the city." "So what do we do, now?" Morgan smiled.

"Actually, I've recently been testing a powerful form of 'magic' I guess you can say." "Magic?" Ivan asked with curiosity. "Yes, take a look at this." He seized a soldier's bare neck with his metallic hand and turned him into what appeared to be metal. The soldier's scream was frozen on his face and his eyes glared blindly into space. "By Mobius!" Ivan gasped. "Is he dead?" "No my dear Ivan, He's merely cased in a metal shell. Not like it matters anyhow. I conveniently forgot how to turn him back." Morgan chuckled to himself. Ivan stood frozen at the sight of the metalicized soldier. He snapped to his senses.

"My lord, do you suggest a full frontal assault on the Mobians?" Morgan seated himself in his chair. His eyes seemed to glow redder than ever. "No, Kintobor. I intend to visit the city myself. If I read the reports correctly, the young anthro that attacked our men, and utterly decimated them by the way, is in fact their _leader_. Beside the point, I have a shred of decency left in my body. I will not tarnish it enough so that I will engage in a friendly chat with our young friend. And then," He pulled out the same USP Match he used 18 years ago and loaded an extended clip. It wasn't Universal for nothing. "Then, _I _will kill him."

Nicholas Acorn was beat. A day of fighting can do that to a person. Especially if you happened to kill two entire armies armed with just a sword, a hoverbike with twin chainguns and a small division of Marines. He was thoroughly checked by a physician and was sent to his room for a night's rest. He was regarded in the highest honor after taking on two armies and coming out smiling. The young king collapsed in his bed and closed his eyes.

The dream was an odd one. He didn't have anything like this before. In the dream, Nicholas was standing in a long metal hall. Only he wasn't _physically_ there. He heard a noise behind him. If his ears were there, they would have twitched instinctively. Turning, he saw a few figures emerge from the door. One was a human. He was dressed in green military fatigues and wearing sunglasses, odd since they were indoors. The second figure was a fox, only it wasn't an ordinary fox. This Mobian had two tails. He was pretty sure he was in deep sleep by then so he could have dreamed it. The third figure entered. It shocked him. This female looked startlingly like him. She had flowing red hair, just like Nick's mother, same blue eyes also. She was carrying a sword in her hands. _The exact same sword I have!_ Nick thought in shock. The human closed the door and sealed it. He hefted a strange assault rifle and scanned the hallway. "Clear!" he proclaimed. "Princess, you'd better get to the bridge. We have hostiles on our six and fire teams Juliet and Hotel aren't responding." The female angered. "I don't need a goddamned babysitter, Chris. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself." She ran ahead.

"Sally! Come back!" he shouted. Without any response, Chris cursed. "Damnit." He said solemnly. "Come on, Miles. Let's get miss Acorn back." The human walked by where Nicholas was in the dream. His name was stenciled on his sleeve. 'Vennettilli'. Below that was a single bar of a Lieutenant.

Now things were just getting wacky. This young Mobian, Sally Acorn for instance: she seemed to be somehow related to Nicholas. And the human: Chris Vennettilli. Donny never had any children while he was alive, much less a human child. Was this just a dream, or was he really looking into something beyond his time? There was a bright flash and he bolted upright in his bed.

Nicholas sharply took breaths. His bare chest heaved in and out at rapid speeds. He felt his skin below his fur. It was clammy. Strange. Before he could question the dream to himself any further, there was a knock on his door. He retrieved an olive drab shirt and said, "Come in."

The door creaked open. An Arctic fox sentry poked his head in. His sandy blond hair was tucked underneath his patrol cap. "Excuse me, your highness. Did I wake you?" Nicholas shook his head. "Nah, I was already awake. Nightmare, you know." The guard nodded. "Sir, a shuttle just landed at the private heliport. It isn't on our schedules. It might be an Overlander craft." Nicholas nodded and took his sword as well as an MP7 from the closet.

Nate Morgan hid his pistol in a pocket. Perhaps the firearm would be unnecessary since he could simply freeze him in metal. He was mulling over these ideas when he noticed a young Mobian descending the stairs. Morgan smiled and his eyes cooled to a dark red. "Ah, you must be King Acorn." Nicholas smiled. "I may. And I take it you're Emperor Morgan." Morgan took a bow. "You'd be correct. Nathaniel Morgan at your service."

Nicholas wasn't letting him off that easily. "You're head of the Overlanders?" Morgan took slight offense. "What did you call me?" "Overlander. When you launched the missiles after us, you creatures insisted on staying aboveground and taking the radiation head-on." "We are only human, Highness, and we did what we felt was right." Nicholas was enraged now. "No, Morgan. You aren't human. Humans are prestigious beings. True they have their flaws but I owe everything to humans. You, on the other hand are inferior in every single way."

Morgan's eyes brightened in anger. The cybernetic implants adjusted to his mood. His black skin was made even darker in contrast to the glow. "You have a sharp tongue, son." Nicholas pulled out his sword. "I have more than that, Morgan." The Overlander stared at the blade. "Well, I suppose this leaves us at an impasse." "What do you mean?" "Well, I wanted a peaceful negotiation, like civilized beings. You, on the other hand, are quite well threatening me. So, I need to what's necessary." He pulled out his Match and pointed it at Nick.

The Mobian saw the gun and dodged it as the first round exited the barrel. Morgan kept hammering off rounds and utterly missing Nicholas. The squirrel was just too fast. Soon, the pistol's slide shot back. The weapon was empty. Morgan tossed the gun away and proceeded with a fistfight.

Nick tried to take a slash at Morgan's arm, but the man was anticipating this. He reversed his punch and attacked with a right hook. The fist connected with Acorn's jaw. Nicholas bit his lip unintentionally and blood flowed from the wound. He blocked the second punch with the blade. It quivered with vibrations. He saw his window.

The Mobian pulled him MP7 out and fired a three-round burst. The bullets pinged into his arm. There were marks left by the rounds and smoke eked out of them. Morgan growled and seized his shirt. Winding up, he tossed Nicholas into a pillar. Nick felt his spine crack and he fell to the floor. Morgan laughed with anticipation. He marched closer and closer. Nicholas thought fast. Maybe he could use this to his advantage. It was a bit of a gamble but it was worth a shot.

He lay still. Nick felt a hand grasping his back. He was heaved up and was faced level with Morgan's face. The Overlander chuckled. That's when Nicholas Acorn put his plan into action. He swung his sword in the blink of an eye and severed Morgan's metallic hand. The man screamed as blood and fluid came from the stump. He took the opportunity to slash his other arm. With both arms helplessly gone, Morgan was reduced to a handless cyborg at the mercy of a squirrel, kind of a humiliating image.

"End it, you brat." He commanded. The boy had him at his mercy. Why did he refuse to kill him? "I didn't fight to kill you." He revealed, through he didn't put down the blade. "You're weak. Just like Mobius." Nicholas slashed, this time, his metallic shoulder. The limb fell, spraying blood and fluid all over the floor. "Next time I go for your real arm." He threatened. "Don't you ever insult my father, you fucking son of a bitch." He stared coldly into those cybernetic eyes. "Leave. Leave and don't come back." Morgan obliged. In pain, the man made his way back to his shuttle and retreated back to MegaCentral. Nicholas was praised for his mix of sword and gunplay and the defeat of Emperor Morgan. He solemnly stood and watched the shuttle blast off into the night. Now, all he wanted was the comfort of a nice, warm bed

The shuttle landed on the Imperial landing pad in MegaCentral. Paramedics rushed Morgan into his main chambers. He held his shoulders since one arm was missing and the other was horribly wounded. Ivan Kintobor was waiting for him. "My lord!" He said. "By Mobius, what did he do to you?" The Overlander leader coughed, "He's more powerful than I thought. I need to go back and destroy him." Ivan's glasses flashed in the light. "I'm afraid that you won't be doing that, my lord." The man looked up at Ivan. "Why is that, Kintobor?"

Suddenly, Ivan seized Morgan's throat. Nate was amused at first but then realized that the attempt wasn't to strangle him at all. He worried as soon as his skin became metal-like. He tried to scream, but the infection had gotten to his vocal cords and frozen them in its cold embrace. The last thing he saw was Ivan laughing, smug of himself.

Nate Morgan was clinically dead since his heart had frozen. Nobody could go on forever like that. Kintobor flexed his fingers with amusement. That injection proved most prudent if he was to ascend to head Overlander. Now with Morgan dead, he could claim that title. The Paramedics were shocked which was ironic in their position because they treated people for this sort of thing. "Get him out of here. Destroy his body. I don't want to risk him ever getting out should we find an antidote." Ivan Kintobor looked out of the window. He would give the Mobians a sporting chance. When they wanted to attack, they would. Even if it took a millennium.

Nick sat in the hallway at the palace. There was a party celebrating the defeat of Morgan. Every upper class citizen was invited. That wasn't to say that the other people didn't have their fun as well. Outside, everyone was having fun getting drunk and getting intimate.

Nick had his eye on a pretty female that was across the hall. King Acorn knew her well. Her name was Alexandra the Fox. She didn't have a last name since her parents were both anthros without last names as well. He wanted to talk to her. She was very noble, as she was the daughter of a Mobian Marine General. _Maybe I shouldn't. She's a fox, and I'm a squirrel for Christ's sake._ Suddenly, a familiar voice drifted by. "Evening, son. How's the party?"

Fredrikson was dressed in a black tuxedo. His cane was in the crook of his arm. Nick smiled when he saw the old man. "Not bad. I'm sort of working up the nerve to talk to that girl over there." Fredrikson took out his spectacles and placed them on his face. He smiled. "My, my, my. She certainly is a foxy one." Nicholas almost laughed. "Please. That's an old one." "Go talk to her, son." The king sat straighter. "Are you kidding? We're not even the same species! It'll look weird!" Fredrikson shrugged.

"Didn't bother me when I met my wife. She was German. Didn't understand a word of English when I met her. I put aside our differences, we got married and had children." Acorn rolled his eyes. "Still, you were both _human_." "That doesn't change the fact. If you like someone, you should go and speak to them."

"Are you sure?" "Dead sure, son." Nicholas took a deep breath and exhaled. "OK, here goes nothing. Wish me luck." The old man patted Nicholas on the back. "You won't need it, son." And they both smiled.

Nicholas smoothed his hair as he walked towards Alexandra. To him, the only sound he could hear was the sound of his shoe heels hitting the floor. He walked up to the young lady at the table and said to her, "Is this seat taken, milady?" She looked up at Nicholas and her eyes grew wide. She smiled widely and said, "Not at all."

Nicholas would grow to love Alexandra the Fox. She would eventually become Queen of Mobius. And she would bear a son, same species as his father. Malcolm would be his name and Peter Fredrikson would watch him grow up. The old man would eventually die at the age of one hundred and fifty-eight years.

Our story now takes a giant leap almost two hundred years into the future where a discovery will change the lives of everyone on Mobius.


	11. Chapter 11: The Chaos Emeralds

Chapter 11: The Chaos Emeralds Chapter 11: The Chaos Emeralds

August 15th 2300

Great Desert

Expedition leader Gregory Toulouse, a fox, sat tightly in his seat as the transport made its final approach to the dig site. He didn't trust humans at the wheel. He had the distinct feeling that they were puling those steep arcs just to annoy him.

Gregory's apprentice, a young mongoose named Ferah was appreciating the mountain scenery. Thousands, maybe millions of years ago, these may have been the famous Rocky Mountains. However, all was lost to time. It was sweltering hot outside, even at ten thousand feet. Greg's thermometer in his watch said it was over 108 degrees Fahrenheit.

Soon, the desert was in view: miles upon miles of sand, cacti and rocks, lots and lots of rocks. He called to the pilots, "Hey, guys! Set us down easy at the dig site. And I MEAN it this time." The pilots chuckled. The driver said, "No problem, Doc. I just wanted to do this first."

The transport did a barrel roll. Gregory's straps kept him from being thrown out the hatchway, but he was pretty sure he lost a pencil. Ferah, on the other hand, loved it.

"Do it again, fly-boys!" She said enthusiastically. The co-pilot looked back, his eyes barely visible through the visor. "Sorry, little miss. We're approaching the landing site. Make sure you're strapped in.

The transport slowed to a stop. The jets slowly let off and it lowered itself to the sand. Dust flew in all directions as the jets kicked it up; other archeologists shielded their eyes with sunglasses or their hands. Gregory and his apprentice jumped from the hatch. Gregory said, "Thanks." And walked away. "Don't mention it!" The pilot called. The transport lifted off again and headed back towards Knothole kingdom.

"I hate it when humans drive." Greg muttered. Ferah looked up at her mentor. "But, sir. Not all humans are bad." The fox's glare softened. "Oh, I know that. Its just the pilots I don't like."

They made their way to the dig site. The outpost was fairly large in size spanning over ten acres. It wasn't very old either. It was established somewhere around ten years ago and it was digging up fossils. Greg and Ferah checked out some gear and went to their hole.

Two other archeologists were in the same hole. One was a human by the name of Grace Antwiler and a platypus by the name of Andre. "Well, howdy do, guys." Andre said as they approached. Ferah ran to Andre. "Hey! What you got?" The platypus shrugged. "Nothing yet, Ferah. I tell you, this is a freaking dead end. I've been shoveling this crap for close to ten hours and not a single bone fragment." Gregory nodded. "Maybe today you'll get lucky." Andre whispered "Ass." behind the leader's back.

"Grace, how about you?" Gregory asked. The human wiped some sweat from her brow. "I dunno, Greg. I think this _was _a bad place for a dig site. I heard that Hosky's boys uncovered some humanoid remains." Greg scoffed. "Hosky's gorillas can't find shit. Who the hell did you hear that from?"

"Christ, it's burning today." Andre griped pouring some water over his arms. "One hundred and eight beautiful degrees, people!" "Quit whining, Andre. Ten years ago, temps topped 120." "Yeah, but do I give a shit?" Suddenly, his small shoveling tool hit something solid.

"I hit something!" He said amazed. The other group members were all smiles. "Way to go, Andre!" Ferah called. "Make sure it ain't a boot or something." Andre kept brushing small amounts of sand and clay away until he saw a spark of green. "Green is the color of money, my friends." The platypus said to a round of chuckles.

A few minutes later, the spark was an entire jewel. Andre cautiously picked it from the clay. "Whoa. What do we have here?" Gregory placed a small set of glasses on his face. "Looks like some sort of jewel. Probably an emerald, because it's green." Ferah scrutinized the shape. "Is it supposed to look like this?" "No, its not." Grace said. "This jewel is brilliantly cut. Jewels don't get this way naturally. Someone or something crafted this."

Twenty minutes later, the team met with a scientist who could tell what the jewel was.

A sandstorm had started up outside and they could hear every grain beating off the tent canvass. The scientist looked at the mysterious jewel under a microscope.

"Well, this is certainly an emerald." He said. "I tried to get some sort of Carbon-14 dating system on it, but the machine was flummoxed. It doesn't know how old this thing is. I also can't scratch this with any material I have. One more thing, the emerald is brilliantly cut. Things like this don't occur every day in nature." Grace folded her arms. "That's exactly what I said."

"Is there a chance that this object may not be from Mobius' surface?" Gregory asked. "Hell if I know." The scientist chortled. "It's like trying to find a thumbtack in the dark without stepping on it. Impossible." The old man wiped his glasses. "If anything, you should get this back to Knothole and have it looked at." Gregory nodded. Andre pulled out a camera and snapped a picture of the emerald. "I don't know. Something about this little jewel scares me."

Ferah laughed. "'Andre the Great' is scared?" "Shut up! I'm nervous, that's all. I mean, it looks a little too convenient, you know what I'm saying?" Gregory nodded. "Be that as it may, we have to get this into the labs. This may be serious people.

A transport helicopter arrived three days later. A squad of Marines came to pick up the jewel in a special vacuum case. Once the men placed it inside, the top closed. There was a slight sucking noise and it was silent.

"There we go." The leader, a Sergeant Major said. "That way, we can keep this lid closed and protect the jewel inside." Gregory eyes the human. "Just keep it safe. I don't want that thing lost somewhere in the desert again." The Sergeant Major laughed. "Oh, don't worry my furry friend. We'll make it our top priority to make sure this emerald is home safe and sound." Gregory nodded. He turned on the Marines and went back to Ferah, who was dusting off some ancient relics, possibly prehistoric animal bones.

"I hope they remember our names in the papers." He told his apprentice. She scoffed. "Please, boss. It's probably just an ordinary jewel." "An ordinary jewel that was perfectly cut and preserved in the sand." "Point taken. Right now though, we have a schedule don't we? We need ten more items to meet our quota." She dusted off her dinosaur skull. As engines started up, they turned their heads to see the helicopter take off, kicking up dust as it went. "There it goes." Andre said.

The Marines stared at the case. A young human PFC stared through the Plexiglas plate at the jewel. "It's beautiful." He said. "You sound like a freaking woman, Jenkins." The Sergeant told him." "I'm serious though. Isn't it perfectly cut? It's really something to look at."

In the cockpit, the pilot was checking energy readings and noticed a slight spike in energy activity. On closer inspection, it was noted that the ambient energy streaming off the engines had kicked up slightly by ten thousand joules. The pilot stopped chewing his gum and turned to his copilot. "Hey, Rosko." "Yeah?" "Look at these energy readings." The copilot flipped up his visor and stared at the screen." "There's a spike."

"Yeah, I know. Where the hell did it come from?" "I have no idea." Rosko noted. "Maybe its something in the engines?" "Well, whatever it is, we sure as hell could use more! We just got a speed boost!" And it was true. The helicopter's speedometer had jumped up nearly seventy-five miles per hour.

"Its glowing, Sarge." The marine said. "What?" the Sergeant answered. "The damn emerald's glowing, Sarge!" They stared at the emerald. A small green glow seemed to have come from within. "What the hell?" The Non-Com asked.

Back at Knothole, the helicopter touched down at the palace helipad. The sun was high in the sky and it beat down on the soldiers. The Sergeant carried the vacuum case to an old man with glasses on. He was head scientist Alfred von Holt of the Knothole University, and he was the one who supervised the expedition in the desert.

"Welcome home, soldiers. How was the flight?" von Holt asked in slightly accented German. "Good, Professor. We brought back something you may find interesting." Von Holt edged his glasses up his nose and took the case from the Sergeant's grip. He keyed in the unlocking code.

A slight hiss of air escaped and the top popped off. Von Holt placed the case on a low stonewall next to him. He removed a pair of latex gloves from his pocket and put them on. Tenderly, he picked up the emerald and examined it. "_Mein Gott_. This is quite a specimen you have here. It was like this when it was delivered to you?" The Marine nodded. "Yes, Professor. The archeologists say that it was completely flawless when they dug it up. They say it could be millions of years old. It could probably be extraterrestrial." "_Wunderbar_, yes, yes. This could lead to some excellent experiments! I thank you Sergeant." The Marine nodded. "You're welcome, sir." And he turned back to his helicopter.

Alfred von Holt was an excellent scientist. He was also well trained by his father to understand a great deal of geology. This little jewel had quite a lot of secrets to tell. Von Holt brought the jewel to his lab. One of his assistants, Heinrich Kleffon was waiting for him. "_Willkommen_, Professor. _Bekamen Sie die paket_?" Did you get the package? "_Ja, ja_. I have it right here."

Von Holt placed the emerald in front of Heinrich. He was immediately attracted to it. "Oh, _das ist schön_." It's beautiful. "I know it is, Heinrich. We have lots of tests to run on the little thing. Apparently those _Idioten_ don't have a clue what it is." Heinrich chuckled.

Heinrich came from a family that was strictly German. His father was a Neo-Nazi supporter and demanded that his children all speak German around the house. Apparently, his father claimed that his ancestor was a Kaiser. Alfred's family was less strict. Von Holt spoke fluent German most of his childhood. When he entered high school, he learned English and used it predominantly ever since.

The Emerald was put through a number of tests. Some included a pressure test, which compressed air around it to see its strength. The total strength used was equivalent to two miles below sea level. Another test was the heat test. The jewel surprised the scientists when it came to over 10,000 K without even shedding a shard.

The scientists were running out of tests. They tried a traditional C-14 age test. That got them nowhere since the method could only measure up to 60,000 years. The jewel was _far_ older than that. They then used a molecular dater. This was experimental technology though. There would be no promises on the results. After the test was concluded, the jewel was measured to be 120,000 years old. More than twice of what the C-14 tests showed.

"This is quite an old jewel, Heinrich. It seems that it can withstand just about anything we can throw at it. I don't think it's humanly possible to destroy it. Fascinating." Van Holt placed the emerald on its point on top of his desk. He suddenly heard Heinrich shout, "_Herr Doctor_!_ Das Juwel_!" The jewel!

Van Holt whirled around. The emerald didn't fall over."Heinrich, this could be a great discovery. Apparently, this emerald allegedly just defied physics entirely and remained on its point." Heinrich checked an energy dial astonished.

"_Herr Doctor, Wir gerade recieved eine Energiezunahme_!" Van Holt checked the screen as well. Indeed, there was an energy boost. "H-How much?" He stammered. Heinrich answered after a minute, "_Sieben_ exajoules, _Herr Doctor_." That meant that the consoles were overflowing with energy. In fact, at that exact moment, almost every light in Knothole flickered on for a few seconds.

Van Holt then said, "We could make quite a bit of money here, Heinrich."

Three days later, the emerald was moved to a safe location underground. This was Area 99. Area 99 was a base run by The Royal Air Force. There, hundreds of military personnel and scientists both human and Mobian struggled to make discoveries and try to keep them away from the public. For example, The RAF was currently working on how to achieve Faster than Light Travel by utilizing an Alcubierre drive, an old idea made new. The idea was to try and squash space in front of a craft and to expand it behind the ship. This beat time dilution because space was being squished in size, not time itself.

The project had one major snag, however. They couldn't find an energy source powerful enough to power the Alcubierre drive, which required a substantial amount of energy, far more than they could produce with simple acid batteries. Then came this emerald.

The project leader had been creating the drive for over five years. If successful, they could possibly be able to reach other planets in their solar system. Not that Mobius wasn't running close to its containment capacity of course, Mobians had inherited all the curiosity and wonder from their human ancestors. Like all living things, they wanted to know what was out there.

With this emerald now included in the mix, and the promise of more energy than they knew what to do with, the scientists immediately got back to work with renewed vigor. Five months later, the drive was ready for testing.

There were two versions of the drive built: one on the ground and an exact copy in space.

It was unwise to put the emerald inside the thing since something bad may happen and they didn't want the jewel destroyed. In fact, just having it near a source of power seemed to give it all the juice it needed. This model was unmanned.

A group of scientists watched from the bridge of the salvaged _Enterprise_ that was crippled in orbit after the first generation of Mobians was forced underground. "OK, get ready to fire the thrusters." The leader said into a microphone. The small craft's engines flared in the dark void. It coasted straight ahead for twelve kilometers. The emerald glowed softly. The scientist said, "OK, power up the Alcubierre drive. Make sure it comes out near the moon just fifty kilometers."

The craft banked in space as the thrusters flared. Sunlight gleamed off of it. Once the gray satellite was in sight, the Engines pulsed blue. The pulsing quickened until there was a bright flash. The scientists shielded their eyes on the _Enterprise_. "Lunar Lookout, this is HQ, do you read, over?" The signal took 1.5 seconds to get to the moon base and another 1.5 seconds for it to be returned. "_This is Lunar Lookout, HQ. That's a negative on that sighting. Are you sure you sent the ship, over_?"

"Positive, over." "_Well, there's nothing here HQ. Maybe you overshot it, over_." "I don't know, Lunar Lookout. Scans show that the probe is nowhere in a twelve AU area, over." "_I don't know what to tell you, HQ. All I know is that that probe is gone and it's nowhere around here. I guess the drive worked, over._" The scientists sourly responded, "Thanks for your help, Lunar Lookout, over." "_Any time, HQ. Lunar Lookout, over and out._"

Little did any of them know that the ship in question had suddenly traveled across the space-time back the way they came in the first place. As soon as the ship appeared in orbit, it was blasted out of the sky by planetary defense system. No debris was left and it effectively erased any means of accidental communication.

It was later found out that not only could the emerald could be used as an offensive asset as well as a key to scientific discovery. Some experimental weapons were developed in Area 99 that siphoned the power of the emerald. These weapons were so powerful that they were immediately decommissioned them after initial testing labeled a 'planetary hazard'. The Mobian generals had concluded that this emerald could cause a high amount of chaos. And that's what they were called. From that day forth, it was known as the Chaos Emerald.


	12. Chapter 12: Milestone

Chapter 12: Milestone Chapter 12: Milestone

October 7th 2525

This area of history is a very important point in both human and Mobian timelines. In human history, the first quarter of the 26th century sparked a war with a hostile collective of aliens known as the Covenant Hierarchy. These aliens attacked human colonies justifying the human condemnation as 'the will of the gods.' We'll come back to the Human covenant war later on, as it is pivotal to the development of later years.

This date is important to the Mobian calendar because it is the day that Mobian scientists developed a Faster Than Light method that didn't use Chaos Emeralds (during the last 200 years, Six more had been discovered, one being in the moon.). This method used high concentrations of negative energy to stretch and squash space-time to allow the ships to accelerate through the stars. After a more successful initial testing, two astronauts were selected to pilot the ship.

Captain Wilson Jackson, a human air force pilot and Fred Queens, an anthro fox who had experience in space flight. The two were currently strapped into acceleration chairs in a Reusable Space Vehicle named _Columbia_ after a famous space shuttle. "So, Jackson, you feel scared?" Queens asked his pilot. "Are you kidding? I've always wanted to do this my whole life!" The intercom squawked, "_OK, you two. You are go for launch in T-Minus 45 seconds_." Queens exclaimed, "Awesome." He flicked a few dials that showed the ship's systems as green. "_30 seconds_." "I got jitters, Queens." Jackson said. The human flicked his Knothole baseball cap backwards and readjusted his microphone. "Yeah me too, man." Queens responded scratching his ear with his hand. "_Ten seconds._"

"Hold on, man." Jackson said. "What?" "I've always wanted to do this ever since I watched _Star Trek_!" Jackson retrieved a CD out of his pocked and inserted it into a Disk player duct taped to the dashboard. He pressed 'Play' as the final seconds were counted down. Suddenly, 'Magic Carpet Ride' by Steppenwolf thundered through their speakers. "I love you, man! This is my favorite song!" Queens said happily.

The countdown timer struck zero and the engines ignited in a fiery blast. The spaceship blasted off the launchpad and into the sky all the while, the 1960s rock music blared through speakers. "_I like to dream, yes, yes right between my sound machine!_"

Jackson and Queens sang along to the song while the personnel at Mission Control monitored their progress.

The sky outside grew black as they pounded through the atmosphere. Stars started to appear and soon, the noise of the rocket died away. "_You don't know what we can find…_" The boosters detached and fell back towards the planet, igniting a stream of orange as it went through the atmosphere again. "_OK you two. Prepare to activate the jump engines, and for God sake, turn the damned music off!_" a radio operator said at Mission Control. Queens turned the radio off, "Right after the next verse. I like this part."

"_Close your eyes, girl. Look inside, girl let the sound take you away!_" At the end of that verse, Jackson and Queens removed the plastic cover of the jump engine and turned their keys inside it. Outside, the sides of the engines pulsed blue. It went faster and faster until the ship shot forward at incredible speed.

To a person on the outside, it would appear that the ship would have stretched to an incredible length then sped away. In fact, it was space that was stretched out behind them. It vanished in a bright flash.

The radio cut out after the jump drive activated. All the stars in front of the windshield appeared to leap forward at them. Jackson struggled to sit up and see what was happening. Queens, being smaller, was pushed into the cushions of the chair. After a thirty-five minute flight, the stars stopped rushing towards them and everything was normal. "Did it work?" Queens asked, running his hand through his brown hair. "Dunno. Let's bring her about." Jackson replied.

The small ship activated her thrusters and turned around slowly in space. Jackson and Queens gasped as they saw the sight before them: It was a large gas giant. It was probably as large as Jupiter but it was purple red in appearance. A tremendous storm was forming in its lower hemisphere and lightning cracked along its clouds. "Mother of God." Queens squeaked. His tail flicked excitedly in the air

"Sweet Jesus, it worked." Jackson gasped. His clipboard started to float in midair as they returned fully to realspace. The human grabbed it and made a note of the discovery. The ship had emerged roughly 150 kilometers from a large moon. From what Queens and Jackson could see, it was capable of housing life since it had a mountainous surface with large valleys. The system star shone through the windshield and cast shadows on the rear of the cockpit. Then the radio crackled.

"_Jackson, Queens, where are you? Did you initiate the jump system? Over._" Queens fumbled with the radio in Zero-G. "Uh, Acknowledged Mission Control. We have initiated the jump protocol and have emerged from our hyperspace tunnel." "_And_?" "Well, we have emerged in front of a large gas giant. Slightly the size of the Sol System's Jupiter, but it's a different color. There also appears to be a habitable moon." "_It worked?_" "Affirmative, Over."

Mission Control exploded with applause. It was a major leap in Mobian technology. Billions of miles away, Jackson asked, "So, How long will it take for the jump drives to recharge?" "_About five hours. In the meantime, run some tests, take a few snapshots, film something and bring it back. Clear?_" "We got it, out."

All the excitement was over and done with. The only thing that the astronauts could do was take a few pictures with high definition cameras, try to analyze the atmospheric makeup of the gas giant, and just have some good old fashioned Zero-G fun. Jackson tossed a football in a spiral towards Queens who caught it and was propelled towards the aft bulkhead. He tossed it back so hard that it knocked Jackson's baseball cap off his head. The fox laughed as Jackson cartwheeled after it.

After getting some rest for a few hours, the astronauts checked their position from Mobius. There was a lot of mathematics involved since they needed to calculate their distance using radio waves. Since they could travel at the speed of light and it took roughly thirty-five minutes to reach Mobius. They concluded that they were 630 million kilometers from their home planet. A brief flash of homesickness struck the pair as the read the figure on screen.

"God. We're so far away." Queens whispered. They could see that Mobius was just a small blue sphere with the ball of gas just behind it. "Hey, if you think we're far now, imagine where the hell Earth is out there." The console beeped. That meant that the Alcubierre drive had fully recharged and they were ready to go home.

"Think of all the publicity we'll get after this." Jackson said knitting his hands behind his head. The small ship coasted silently through space. Queens said, "Please, in a few hundred years nobody's going to remember our names." Jackson laughed. "That's right Queens, we'll just be two schmuks who went into space and were the first men to go into warp drive." They both laughed as the ship blasted towards home.

Jackson, Queens and the men and women who designed the Alcubierre drive were all congratulated and honored as heroes. Their names were actually carved into a wall-of-fame of a sort in the palace. They would remain famous for many centuries.

The reason that Earth is also involved in this pivotal year was that today, the Human-Covenant interstellar war began officially. Unofficially, the actual first contact between the Humans and the aliens was in 2524 however they didn't declare war until a year later.

Near the human colony of Chi Ceti VI, a new breed of supersoldiers called Spartans used a set of powerful MJOLNIR armor to invade a covenant capital ship and destroy it from the inside using a tactical nuclear device. The team leader, Petty Officer Second Class John-117 lead the insertion operation into the ship. All Spartans on the operation were recovered except for Petty Officer Second Class Samuel-034 who sacrificed himself to get the team to safety since his suit was breached making a vacuum extraction impossible.

However, the public would never know this. Spartans were to represent the pinnacle of Human genetic engineering. If the people figured out that one of their most powerful assets were dead, mass chaos would ensue from the issue. So, he was listed as 'Missing In Action' to keep the illusion that 'Spartans Never Die'. The war goes on.


	13. Chapter 13: The Floating Island

Chapter 13: The Floating Island Chapter 13: The Floating Island.

December 17th 2870

Mobius

It has been three hundred years since the Day of the Last Human. By this point in history, not a single homo sapient walked Mobius' surface. The entire population was anthropomorphic and took the name of Mobians upon themselves. Relations with the Overlanders have not entirely been great either.

Mobians have spread out and colonized the rest of their world. The Kingdom of Mercia was established in Anglasia, the area that resembled the United Kingdom, The Land of a Million Lights; a major metropolitan superpower at that time, Mysterious Cat Country, the feline inhabited land where the last human was reportedly seen three hundred years ago, The Republic of Kraant, a small country in the Nova Kanada Arctic, and the Dominion of Downunda, a colony of Knothole Kingdom.

This island was almost entirely the same to its Earth counterpart. Every geological feature was untouched through the isolation. In the center of this continent was the city of Echidnopolis, a society made up of entirely echidnas. The city was tropically located with waterfalls flowing near the gleaming white skyscrapers. Not only was this the capital of echidnas on Mobius, it was the location of the Master Emerald.

The Master Emerald was the brain of all the emeralds on Mobius. Every single one of the powerful jewels was linked to this gigantic emerald. After its discovery, one warrior of the Echidna city was selected to protect it through his life. Many died during the task but some lived to be legendary. Today, all the Chaos Emeralds were to be relocated to the city for safekeeping.

A helicopter was sent to the island that day. It swept low over the water allowing surf to form under the rotors. The pilot altered his vector towards the landing pad in the middle of the city. He carefully put the helicopter down and cut the engines. A group of Echidna scientists stood before him with their dreadlocks waving in the wind.

The Emeralds were in separate cases. They were passed to an old scientist by the name of Mathis. After they were offloaded, he said to himself solemnly, "I never thought I would hold them in my hands."

The Master Emerald was located in the very center of the island. Only one being was in the center and that was an Echidna warrior. His name was Alec-Su His dyed purple dreads were as long as his elbows. The young Mobian stood near the jewel as he did since his first day almost ten years ago. A single spear lay up against the wall. Mobian Echidna tradition required the Guardian of the Master Emerald not to use any ballistic weapon. His only options were a ceremonial spear carved by the founder of their city, and a bow and arrows.

A bird sang in the sky and Alec-Su breathed deeply. He was in a meditation trance, as the Echidnas were very spiritual, they spent most of their time relaxing the mind. However, a few minutes into his meditation, his ears twitched as the stone door to the altar opened. A small group of armed Mobian Marines and echidna scientists filed in. An elderly echidna bore the Chaos Emeralds. Alec-Su's eyes widened when he saw the jewels. He had heard legends about their whereabouts but he had never seen such a sight before.

The scientist bowed before Alec-Su. "My boy, these magnificent jewels are the legendary Chaos Emeralds. They have been brought to you to keep them safe." The young echidna nodded. "Yes, I have been waiting for this moment since I have begun my guard." "Take them then, my boy. Take them and guard them with your life."

Alec-Su placed each emerald on its tip onto a short pillar all around the Master Emerald. Each emerald stood on its point and hummed ominously. As soon as this was completed, echidnas bowed their heads in prayer towards the Master Emerald.

"Hey Sarge, what the hell are they doing?" A red fox corporal asked his CO. "Shit, I have no idea." The jaguar faced Sergeant responded. However, a female mouse pulled a datapad from her backpack and turned it on. "I know what they're doing." The other two turned to her. "In Echidnan mythology, The Master Emerald itself is alive. It is unknown how this is but they believe that an entity lives inside of the crystal dwelling. It hears, it speaks, it grants power. So they pray for it to grant them peace and prosperity." She smiled in self-satisfaction.

The sergeant lit a cigarette. "Well that just about sums it up on the goofy-meter." He looked down at his boot and saw a blue blob grab onto it. "And what the hell is this thing?" The Private looked thoughtfully at the blob. She picked it up and pet it. The blob had two blue eyes and a mouth that showed contentment. "Oh, that's a chao, sir!" She said in excitement. "A what?" The Sergeant asked.

"A chao. I did a paper on them at Knothole U, sir. They're believed to be extraterrestrial in origin though we can't find where they're from. They can show emotions though facial expressions and through that levitating sphere above their head."

Indeed, the chao did have a yellow ball above its head that changed into a heart. "Aw, I think he likes you." The fox said to the corporal. "I gotta get one of those for my niece, she'll love it." Suddenly, the chao started to act strangely. It squirmed around in the female's hands. She tried to figure out what was wrong with it but the animal pointed towards the emeralds. They could see what the problem was.

The Emeralds started to glow brighter. Their contours could not be seen anymore. Everyone shielded their eyes from the blinding light. Suddenly, a rumbling came from within the Master Emerald. And if they heard correctly, it sounded like chanting.

The only ones who had any idea what was happening was happening were the echidnas. They had fallen to their knees in front of the Master Emerald. They were speaking in a language the Knothole Mobians could not understand.

Then something strange happened. The Chaos Emeralds lifted themselves off the pillars and rose above head height. Once suspended in mid-air, the jewels rotated around the Master Emerald. "What the hell is going on here?" The sergeant asked. A several tremors shook the altar and indeed, the whole continent. Many people lost their footing and fell. One more tremor shook the continent and at last, there was silence.

Everyone got up and checked for any injuries. Only a few marines had cuts and bruises. The worst was the red fox with a gash on his temple after he smashed his head off the steps leading to the altar. "Damn! What happened?" He asked rubbing his head. His hand came away with hot blood.

Alec-Su helped the elders up. "The Emeralds reacted with one another." "Reacted?" The mouse asked. "Yes. We heard the Master Emerald speaking to us in a sense. Some words we couldn't understand at first but it seemed to be uttering an incantation." "Well, what the hell did it do for Christ's sake?" The sergeant asked impatiently. "I think we've risen." The young echidna explained calmly. "Wait," The fox interrupted. "Risen literally or figuratively?" The Guardian looked at the fox with deep red eyes and said, "Literally."

"He's screwing us." The sergeant said taking a draft on his cigarette and exhaling smoke. The Elders bristled. "Actually Sergeant, I do feel slightly more heavy." The fox said gingerly brushing his head wound which still trickled with blood. The Sergeant jerked his head in one direction. "Come on, lets go see if everyone's OK."

The Marines walked down a street. There was slight confusion with citizens picking themselves up off the streets wondering what had happened. The Sergeant would have asked if anyone needed help, but he didn't speak a word of the dialect here. "Were they serious about the floating?" The sergeant asked his two subordinates. "I think so, sir." The mouse squeaked.

Farther along the road to the beach, they gasped. The ground had completely vanished. Instead of the clear blue lake that they saw coming in, all that was left was sky. "What the hell is this?" The sergeant inquired. The cigarette dropped from his mouth in surprise. "Sir, all that energy from the Chaos Emerald must have lifted us right off the continent. "Yeah, I can see that Squeaks…" The fox said sarcastically.

They could actually see where the city once was. There was a large hole in the jungle continent stretching approximately fifty to seventy-five miles in diameter. It was slowly moving away from them. "Are we moving?" The fox asked. After a quick look at the continent the Mouse said, "Son of a bitch, we are!" Soon, the power of the Chaos Emeralds slowly swept the island away through the sky away from Downunda.

The current king of Mobius, King William the Second stood up suddenly when the report was delivered to him. "_What_ happened?" He demanded. The soldier repeated the report. "As of 1422 hours Central Time on the southern Continent Downunda the echidnan city of Echidnopolis has left the surface of Mobius."

"What exactly do they mean by 'left the surface'?" The soldier said, "That's exactly what they mean, sire. The island has literally left the surface. It's floating, sire." William was dumbstruck. "In the air?" "Yes, your majesty." William sighed and sat down in his chair. He rubbed his father's sword that was handed down through the centuries. The family name 'Acorn' was still on the blade as if it was carved in yesterday.

"Does this island have a flight path?" "A flight path, sire?" "Yes, does it have a specific route?" The soldier brought up a map of the planet. A small red line was etched across it. "We think so. This red line is he predicted flight path of the Floating Island. The Equatorial winds seem to be dragging it along the oceans. It won't pass over Knothole, sire but we believe it will make a pass over the Land of a Million lights and New Maya in the continent south of here where Mexico would be."

"I know where New Maya is." William said shortly. "Will it eventually fall from the sky?" The soldier shook his head. "We don't know sir. All we do know is that the island is neither gaining or losing altitude, but is maintaining a height of around ten to fifteen thousand feet." William nodded.

"And the Master Emerald?" "Still intact, sire. However, some of the scientists claimed that the jewel _spoke_ to them." The king cocked an eyebrow. "Spoke to them? As in speaking words?" "Yes, but none that we could understand."

William paced around he room for a few minutes. He began thinking to himself, _well; let's add this to the list of things that's been going on around here. I honestly don't know what the Universe is trying to prove to me. More importantly, why _us_? What have we done to deserve this fate?_

He collapsed in his chair. The king removed his crown and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Uh, soldier, you're dismissed. Go get some rest." The soldier bowed. "My thanks, your Highness." The soldier turned around and marched out of the room. The only thing that William could do was take out his father's sword and rub it gently with his linen cloth sighing gently.


	14. Chapter 14: The Great War

June 1st 3200

June 1st 3200

MegaCentral

Colin Kintobor sat solemnly in his room. His father, Jerome, had been sick for many months. The man was 80 years old. This was considered a premature death at the time since the life expectance was well over 150 Standard Years (A Standard Year is equivalent to one rotation of Earth around Sol). Colin feared the worst for his father, as it was a disease that was undocumented in the Medical Textbooks of MegaCentral's universities.

Beside Colin sat his brother Julian. Julian was a very smart young man who loved mathematics and science. He was slightly portly and always wore mirrored glasses because the girls at school thought it looked "cool". Colin scoffed at the glasses. If anything, they made Julian look even more like a dork. The two brothers had always been opposites. Julian kept his hair long while Colin had a nice, military buzz cut close to the scalp and short on the side burns. Also, Colin kept his face clean while Julian had a slight ginger moustache.

"So," Julian said, "what do you think Dad wants to see us for?" Colin didn't turn to see his brother. "All I was told that he was very sick and that he wanted an audience with us." Julian kicked his feet up on the small metal table in front of them. "I bet he's dying." A small vein throbbed in Colin's temple. He admired his father a lot. Jerome Kintobor was a brilliant military tactician. He ruled the city of MegaCentral for decades when his father died.

"I mean, come _on_, Colin. Why would he want to see us unless he was about to kick the damned bucket?" "Don't talk about father like that!" Colin exploded. Julian recoiled instinctively. Colin was the Varsity Champion of the high school wrestling team three years running. He could rearrange Julian's organs and put them back the way they were blindfolded without cutting his skin.

"Typical. You're such a daddy's boy. I'm surprised he didn't just give you the key to the city and jump off a cliff or something." Colin repeated his threat: "Don't TALK about father like that." Julian teased him even more despite the warning. "Or what? You're gonna hit me, Colleen? You gonna give me one right in the nose? Because if you did, that would be just…" Colin decided to take Julian's advice and landed his fist right in his brother's nose. Julian felt a crack as his nose broke. Some blood flowed but they kept landing fists at each other. The kicking and punching and screaming continued well on until a robot attendant came to them.

"Oh!" It said surprised. "I'm sorry, sirs. Did I come at a bad time?" Julian could barely talk with his brother's boot on his face. "No, not at all." The robot couldn't understand sarcasm so it said, "Splendid! Now, Lord Kintobor will see you two now." The robot scurried away as the rubber treads squealed on the metal floor.

"I can't believe you broke my nose." Julian whimpered as they walked down the hallway. "Shut the hell up, Julian. It wouldn't be the only thing that I would have broken." But the younger Kintobor brother wouldn't let up. "I'm billing you for the repair costs." Colin laughed out loud. "Repair costs? We're in the 33rd century dumbass. Just put some grafting cream on the inside and it'll work its way in." Julian grumbled, "It still hurts." "Oh come on, Julian. It's character! You need a scar for God's sake. You're a nerd! Always sitting in front of your computer playing with your chemistry set. Why couldn't you play football like I did as a kid?" "Because the kids kept on calling me names like 'Fatso', 'Tubby' and 'Stay Puft Man'." Colin laughed. "Yeah, I came up with that last one."

Their father's room was the third down the hall. Since they were in a hospital, there were many important figures on this floor. However, with Jerome Kintobor being the ruler of MegaCentral, his room would be furnished beyond belief. They opened the door and walked into the room. Immediately, they saw that there was a nice carpet with brilliant patterns, silky curtains, Victorian-inspired seating arrangements, and recreations of Earth masterpieces on the walls.

Jerome Kintobor was lying in a four-poster bed with an EKG attached to his arm. The old man's chest heaved up and down with raspy breath. Colin walked towards his father. "Dad?" He said. The old man's eyes snapped open and he reached under his pillow quickly and drew a pistol. When he saw it was Colin, he set the gun down and sat up in bed. "Colin! You shouldn't scare me like that, son. It's not good for me at my age. You could have given me a heart attack." "Yes, and you could have shot me." Colin said gesturing to the gun. "Yes. I suppose. Ah, hello, Julian." He nodded to the other Kintobor brother who was standing several feet behind Colin.

"Now, I've called you here for a reason, boys. Ever since your mother died, I've been thinking ever more about the future. We need to expand our borders. MegaCentral has just gotten too small. But the creatures, the Mobians inhabit the land we need to have." "So you want me to go and get it back." "Not get it back. TAKE IT! I want you to wrench it away for them. Crush them and seize your birthright." "With respect, father. What did the Mobians do to you?" "It's not me, it's my ancestors. That's how it all started. You were taught to hate Mobians for taking our planet when it was rightfully ours."

This got Colin riled up. He understood what he needed to do, although, deep inside him, he knew there was a possibility of Total War. Mobians were the spawn of Humanity as the Overlanders were, so they would act as their genetic ancestors did. And that was to fight. "I'll do it, Father." Jerome smiled. "That's my boy, Colin. Make me proud of you." Julian's hands curled into fists but his father didn't see. "Bring Julian back a souvenir, son!" Jerome called to Colin as he left the room.

Colin was the head of a regiment of posthuman soldiers. Each one was armed with laser weapons more powerful than the projectiles of the Mobian military. Coupled with computer controlled fighters and tanks, they couldn't lose this war. Colin's first act of war was to invade the mining town of Calypso on the coast close to MegaCentral. Barely a detachment was needed to put down every civilian in town. The elder Kintobor brother felt no remorse as he shot each retreating citizen man, woman, or child. By the time the sun had reached its midpoint in the sky, Calypso was completely demolished.

Colin was not satisfied though. It took a lot for the leader to say, 'that's enough'. Colin slowly made his way down the continent, attacking everyone they saw. He didn't dare go to Nova Kanada though; the people of that country were fierce shock troops and could probably put up a defense against the Overlanders. Instead, they would go to Knothole.

The army marched across the harsh Mobian desert. A few complaints rose from the hot footsolders complaining that it was too hot. The Sergeants silenced those complaints though they themselves didn't like the conditions. A few removed their helmets and wiped their faces of sweat. Colin was in an APC behind the group. Of course, it was air-conditioned. Colin was royal in a sense so he was to be placed as far away from the conditions without removing him from battle. His pilot asked him why they were sending the troops out into 100+ degree weather wearing bulky battle armor.

"Sir, we've already lost five troopers to heat stroke. Another five to dehydration and a few may have gone clinically insane from the hot weather." Colin folded his arms. "It's all discipline, soldier. My father always valued discipline over sheer numbers. My father used to always say, a single army can be wiped out by those who can control their emotions, who can control their fears." The driver asked, "So, if an army can control their emotions and keep calm, they can win a battle." "It makes sense doesn't it?" Colin asked. "Calmer emotions can equal lower heart rates. Lower heart rates can result in more accurate weapon fire. Soldiers can actually shoot where they want to rather than rely on the spread of fire to hit a target."

The desert went on for over five hundred miles. Twenty more soldiers succumbed to the heat and lack of water. A proper funeral wasn't done, so the only thing that they did was take the tags and mark them "KIA" on the roster. And after two weeks of trekking across the desert, Colin's detachment spotted the other side, a long range of mountains that separated the desert from the forest. The elder Kintobor brother smiled and said, "Men, we're nearly there." The Overlander regiment smiled with glee and quickened their pace.

Under the shade of a mountain, the Overlanders set up camp. Colin poured himself a cup of coffee and sat on a crate. Soldiers huddled in groups around fires while chattering about themselves. It got pretty cold in the desert at night and heat was needed for survival through the night. Colin listened in to a few conversations without getting involved.

He heard a few key words and phrases like his father's possible death, Julius' future to the empire, and a battle plan for defeating the Mobians. Colin decided to stop listening and sat down with the other officers who greeted him with respect. There was much to do.

The current head of the Mobian Monarchy was King Max. The king was a strong ruler who was liked by his people. Max was married to a squirrel named Alicia. They were a young couple that was talking about children soon. However, their thoughts became disturbed when a report came from an unmanned recon drone flying over the Mobian desert that day.

"Sire, the drone picked up evidence of a possible Overlander threat!" Max grunted angrily. "How large is the army?" "Estimated sixty thousand units. They're just a few hundred miles from the kingdom limits." "Damn. Alright, mobilize the palace defenses. I don't think that the Overlanders will be coming fro a peaceful lunch party." The soldier saluted. "Right away, sir!" he said and ran away through the doors.

"Max, are you sure that this warrants such a large force?" Alicia asked her husband. "I'm sure, dearest. I'm never wrong about these sort of things."

The small force of AH-79 Nightingale transport helicopters lifter off from the Mobian Military Airbase just five klicks north of the castle grounds. Each helicopter carried a dozen Army and Marine personnel. And each copter had 70mm Miniguns and 110mm missiles under each stubby wing to boot. Some troops took machine gun positions on the sides of the aircraft as they flew through the air.

The journey to the Mobian Desert was quick and easy. Before they knew it, the advancing Overlanders were spotted. A helicopter in the rear opened up and sprayed bullets at the army. The enemy troops scattered and hid themselves in the trees. However, this could not save them from the missiles. The 110mm projectiles flew from the Nightingale's wing. It impacted in a small group of trees and set it ablaze. Bits of uniform, metal wood, and bone splintered from the explosion.

Colin was terrified. He wondered to himself how they were discovered so quickly and the sheer numbers of the Mobian attack force. He took an anti-material rifle and aimed it at a helicopter's rotor. The rifle's round could do a lot of damaged when put in the right place. The scope passed over his intended target and he pulled the trigger.

The gun leaped into his shoulder as the tremendous recoil followed the blast. A single 15.7mm Armor Piercing round shot through the rifled barrel and landed on the rotor mechanism. The rotors sparked once, and then the helicopter fell from the sky and exploded when it impacted on the ground. The other choppers immediately dropped their troops off and retreated. Only one other fell to Colin's marksmanship skills. The Mobian shock troops entered from the tree line first. Visors covered their faces so their species couldn't be identified. They were carnivores however, and this was what they lived for.

One leapt an astounding 7 feet through the air and landed on an Overlander's shoulders. It snapped the unfortunate soldier's neck and slashed through the second's body armor. They didn't even use weapons. Colin placed a round on the perpetrator. The Special Forces soldier was thrown through the air leaving a trail of blood.

The Overlanders initiated a counter-attack. A fire team commanded by an Overlander colonel flanked a Mobian gunner position and killed all of that squad's members. A handful of grenades were tossed into where the deceased soldiers lay. They exploded and scattered the enemy soldiers.

A Mobain squad was really racking up kills. It was lead by a fox whose name Colin couldn't read. He was cutting through Overlanders like a hot knife through butter. The fox fired a burst from an assault rifle at Colin. He ducked but the spread caused a shot to hit another soldier in the face. Blood spattered on a tree trunk and the soldier fell down dead. Colin raised his rifle again and aimed for the fox's head. However, he was out of ammo. He cursed silently and released the magazine. When he inserted a new one, the fox had vanished. He finally gave the order to retreat. The Mobians simply had more firepower.

"Get the hell out of here!" Colin screamed at he troops. The Overlanders heeded and followed him away. Mobains took potshots with rifles as they retreated. Some shots scored hits but the majority got away. Content with their victory, the soldiers raised a cheer and waited for pick up.

Colin had never been more embarrassed in all his life. His cheeks were red with blood and his eyes were bloodshot. He couldn't believe that they were discovered. How? How could they have pinpointed their location? There must be a transmitter beacon somewhere. Perhaps it was in the capitol city? That seemed like the most reasonable answer. Colin swallowed this when he discovered that he needed to face his father's wrath when he got back to MegaCentral. He would not be happy to hear that his son failed.

Colin nervously smoothed his hair outside his father's room in the hospital. Julian sat with a self-satisfied smile in a chair. "Stop pacing like that, bro. You're going to wear a hole in the floor." "Shut the hell up, Julian! I really don't want to talk about this!" the younger Kintobor brother raised his arms in defense when a doctor came through the door. "Excuse me, sir." "How is he, doctor?" Colin asked. "I'm so sorry, sir. Your father died before you arrived. He had a catastrophic heart failure. We just couldn't bring him back." Colin's eyes had tears in them. Julian was sad, but that was about it for him. Colin wiped away the tears then a thought struck him.

_Wait; if my father's dead, then I'm the one who rules the empire in his place!_ Suddenly, Colin was quite happy, his father's death forgotten. Julian also realized this and anger sparked through him. "Well, isn't that convenient." He said through gritted teeth. "Don't worry bro, I'll make you my Imperial Lackey. How's that?" Only Julian's deep wish not to die kept him in his seat. If Colin was Emperor, if Julian pissed him off, Even if he spilled a drink accidentally on him, he would be tossed into an active reactor core and they would pick up his bones a week later. "Enjoy it, Colin. Enjoy that sweet victory of yours."

At this point in Mobian history, Emperor General Colin Kintobor, at 30 years old would declare open assault on the Mobians. King Max openly took this threat and said that they would counter this offensive in any way necessary. This war would go on for about 20 years and it was to be called the Great War. True there was already a war called this that was fought way over a thousand years ago, but this one was way more important. The Overlanders didn't just want victory; they wanted _extinction_. So the Great War began.


	15. Chapter 15: Traitor in the Ranks

March 31st 3210

March 31st 3210

Knothole Kingdom, Palace Situation Room.

King Max sat at one end of the long table in this room. At the other end there were two hedgehogs. They both dyed their quills blue, as was their family tradition. Both were dressed in Special Forces black. A patch with a blue Arrowhead and a picture of Mobius on it was on their shoulders. They belonged to the 61st Mobian Special Ops Division, big time unit.

"Gentlemen, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming here." Max opened. Both the hedgehogs responded "thank you, sire!" "Jules, Charles, this is your mission." A holographic projector warmed up in front of them. A cluster of buildings appeared. "This is MegaCentral, population 21 million citizens, all Overlanders. But you two already knew that right? Anyway, you have a special assignment." Jules stood up. He was taller than Charles by nearly a half inch. "Are we going to infiltrate the city, sir?" The king shook his head. "No, Jules. Sit down." Jules turned red slightly. "Y-yes, sir." Charles made a playful punch at him.

"This is Julian Ovi Kintobor." A photograph came up. A man who was losing his hair appeared on screen. He had a big moustache and mirrored glasses. "Age 39, miraculously smart man. At age 10 he already had himself accepted at every major university in the Overlander education system. At age 20, he was commissioned Head Scientist of the MegaCentral Research Labs. He has worked there ever since. He has been constantly shadowed by his older brother Colin." A second picture appeared. This time it was a man with a military buzz cut and sunglasses. The two were polar opposites of each other."

"Oh, I remember him." Jules said. "Nearly killed us in that little skirmish a few years back. Thought he was dead." Max smiled. "Apparently not. Colin and his brother have always hated each other, typical sibling rivalry. Your objective is to capture Julian Kintobor." "Capture Kintobor? How do you plan to do that?" Charles demanded. "Simple. Every now and then, Julian travels to the East Coast to visit the ruins of Old Megaopolis, possibly the ruins of New York City. Anyhow, Kintobor insists that a guard is not needed while he's in the city. That's your chance to grab him."

Jules laughed. "Well, he thinks he's so safe, he hasn't met us yet, right, Chuck?" Charles said, "You got it, bro." Max smiled and said, "You boys were my first choice. I know you won't let me down."

Hundreds of thousands of feet in the air, a covert stealth aircraft was on the edge of space. Mobius was a blue ball beneath them. Through special goggles, Jules and Charles could see Knothole, a string of lights and green forests. Upwards, they could almost see the skyscrapers of the two most profound Overlander cities on the planet, MegaCentral and New Megopolis. Colin Kintobor, Emperor and Law-Keeper of the Overlander culture ordered that the capitol be moved to the latter city.

The pilot cut the engines and hovering thrusters engaged. The air was so thin that they could barely hear the jets. "OK, gentlemen. This is your stop." The pilot said. "Remember, when your altimeter glows red, pull the ripcords, got it?" Jules lowered his faceplate. "Clear as crystal." "Good, then get the hell off my plane." And with that, the two hedgehogs jumped.

Freefall was a funny thing. You felt like you didn't weigh a pound and at the same time you were hurtling downwards at speeds that could sometimes cause a blackout. That's how the two brothers Jules and Charles felt at this moment. The skyscrapers of Old Megaopolis soon poked into view. The famed Statue of Liberty-as the humans called it-was also viewable from their descending perch. After a few more minutes of falling, their altimeters gave a red glow. "Hey, Jules, I think we should pull those ripcords now." His brother gave a playful laugh and said, "I think I can push it a few thousand feet more." "Jules, this is serious. If you don't pull now, you won't have enough speed to decelerate!" "Shut the hell up, Charles. I know what I'm doing." Charles gave a scoff. "Mom was right, you are going to get yourself killed one day." Charles pulled his cord and was dragged into the air as the chute broke his fall. Jules also reluctantly followed as the altimeter was now beeping in his ears.

"So, you decided your life was worth living?" Charles said to his brother. "Screw you. My hand slipped." "Right, Jules, right." The two brothers reunited on the shattered remains of the Rockefeller Center. "Jesus Christ. It's a lot different when you get to street level." Jules said. "I wonder what happened to everyone here?" Charles looked around the building. He shuddered when he spotted human skeletons. "Uh…Jules…" He pointed. "Are those skeletons fresh?" "Can't be. Humans have been extinct for centuries. Way too old for 200 years. I think…they were here when it happened!" Charles looked to his brother. "What, Jules?" "I…don't know. Some sort of apocalypse."

Their train of thought was interrupted when an APC bearing the Overlander symbol turned down the road. Jules and Charles hid themselves behind some wreckage as the APC came to a complete stop. The door opened and a portly man stepped out. "You know the drill, I'll take care of this. Stay out here." The man inside nodded and closed the hatch. Jules and Charles assembled sniper rifles. One loaded with Anti Vehicle rounds, one with tranquilizer darts. "Who takes the APC?" Jules asked. "I want to shoot the fat bastard." Charles said. "The hell you will. I want him." Jules rebutted "Flip you for it." He concluded.

He took out a Mobian Dollar (also known as a Moby' to some citizens). On one side, there was an eagle, the symbol of bravery and freedom, on the other: the face of Matthew Mobius staring to one side. "Call it in the air." Jules said and flicked it with his thumb. The coin arched gracefully. "Heads." Charles whispered. It thudded on the ground. Mobius's face shone. "Go to hell, Chuck. Its heads." He handed his brother the tranq darts and the rifle while Jules himself aimed the lethal one at the APC. "Synchronize shots on my mark, bro." Jules reminded his brother. "I remember, bro." Both cocked the guns. "In three, two, one. Fire." Both fired within milliseconds of each other. The AP slug hit the fuel tank of the APC. The vehicle exploded and was lifted off its tires. Julian didn't even have time to turn around and look as the dart sailed through the air and stuck itself in his neck.

The Overlander collapsed onto the street. His body was thrown into sharp relief by the flames. "Mission Accomplished." Jules said with a smile. He and Charles made their way down to the street to collect their prisoner. Julian was feebly stirring under the influence of the fluid in the dart. "Don't…don't kill…" That was all he had time to say as he fell unconscious. "So, do we lift the porker?" Jules asked. "And throw out my back? I have my life ahead of me. I'm not going to toss it in the toilet trying to lift this guy." "Point taken, Chuck. I'll call in a helicopter. We need a lift home anyway." "I hope they give us a medal for this." Charles said as he sat on Julian's prominent stomach.

They did in fact get a medal for the move. They got even more. The king himself knighted Jules and Charles. His wife was also there and she beamed at the two hedgehogs. Both Jules and Charles felt the tingle of the swords on their shoulders. They were knights!

King Max walked into the interrogation room. Julian was in there surrounded by ten armed guards. Each one wore a bulletproof vest and a faceplate to obscure their identities.

He smiled at the two special ops soldiers who brought him in. They were seated behind a two-way mirror. "He's ready for you, your highness." Jules said. The king opened the door. Julian stood up and the guards raised their guns. Just in case. "Julian Kintobor." Max said extending his hand. "King Acorn." Julian said doing likewise. "You certainly are civilized." Julian showed a flicker of a smile below his moustache. "Now, to business, Kintobor. If I've read the report correctly, you have one brother and one nephew, correct?" He nodded his head. "Yes, they're both named Colin. He's about 4 now."

"Touching." The king said. "What was your position within the Overlander Empire?" Julian took a cautious breath. "I was head of the Scientific Research committee. The head scientist." "Good. Then that means that you have an exceptional mind, correct?" Julian gave a smug smile. "I've been told." Max sat down in a chair. "How would you like to help us win this damned war?" This took Julian aback. "You mean I would have to go against my own people and their ways?" Max shrugged. "I could have you shot instead." The guards raised their guns.

"You can't be serious, Your Highness." Julian said unfazed. "Try me." He nodded to the guards who pulled the charging hammers on their rifles. Julian heard the _clack_ and said, "What do you want me to do." Max smiled. He loved it when he won. He always won. Always. "I want you to develop a type of weapon that can counter the Overlander laser weaponry. I want you to design battle-armor for my troops to protect them. You already know how to do this. Everything we need is locked up in the big egghead of yours." Julian's face was red from the insult. His glasses seemed to glow ominously. "What happens after I help you?" "We can decide that after the war's over, Julian. Will you help us, or will you be willing to die?" Julian loosened his collar with his hand. He was sweating. "OK, I'll help you." Max beamed. "That's the spirit, Kintobor. I'll provide the materials and scientists, you provide me with the weapons and armor we need. Clear?" Julian said, "Crystal, Your Highness."

Julian Kintobor was placed in a lab within the reaches of the royal palace. There, he worked with several of Knothole's smartest beings. He toiled through the nights and days working on his new project. Slowly, a metallic body was being built up in the laboratory.

All the way in New Megaopolis, Colin Kintobor was actually worried sick about his brother. It had been a few days since his disappearance and no contact had been made between them. He took a second to put that thought aside and he watched his son, Colin the Second. He was only 4 years old at the time. Colin felt like he couldn't act like a father ever since his wife died 4 years ago when Junior was born. He did admit to himself that he wasn't acting much like a father. He ignored Colin II, he gave frequent punishments, and he was on borderline physical abuse with the young Overlander. He averted his gaze from his son and thought about Julian. Doubtless, he never got along with his brother but he did have many Overlander secrets in his mind.

Colin's first thought was a kidnapping. And there was only one perpetrator on the planet that could do such a thing, a race of perpetrators actually. He immediately commissioned a small group of commandoes to get in, find that tracking device, and shut it down for good.

The Commandoes dropped silently in the night. Their body armor sliced through air so quietly you wouldn't know they were there until it was too late. Small thrusters in their boots and backpack slowed their fall and they touched down three kilometers from Knothole's city limits. The buildings glowed as the nightlife reigned supreme. The commander raised binoculars to his eyes and scanned the skyline. Suddenly he saw it: a huge scanner dish that was spinning in the air. "Bingo," he said. "Boys, this is where we earn our paycheck."

Scaling the wall was easy enough. The small jump jets in their boots gave them a boost over the walls. They had the guard rotation schedules so they knew when to strike. It was clear on the battlements with no guard in sight. Regardless, the Commander drew a silenced rifle and motioned his team to do the same. The Mobians were so narrow-minded. They placed the dish right next to the wall. "Amateurs." One of the solders responded through a radio. They jumped down onto the street and hid behind a transport truck. There were no guards left for a few minutes so they acted quickly. Using a shotgun, they breached the door and scanned the area. A few operators turned around to see them but were shot by the Overlander Strike Force.

One tried to get away but was shot in the head three times by the commander. His blood pooled in a deep red puddle. They made their way to a computer. The Commander opened a file to shut down the scanner. "It needs a password." A soldier said. The Commander unloaded three slugs into the screen. "Did that work?" He asked. "Let's save ourselves a lot of time and just blow the hell out of this place. We can worry about writing the report later." The others shrugged. It was straightforward and easy to remember.

Bits of C4 were stuck on the base of the scanner and the timer was set for five minutes. That would allow them to get far enough away from the dish before it exploded. The Commandoes jumped over the battlements on the wall and ran away from the city. After a little while of running, there was a rumble as the scanner transformed into a fireball. Pieces of debris showered from the sky and soon, searchlights sprouted up from the ground. The commandoes smiled and ran away from the scene. It was a quick operation and they would enjoy the benefits of victory.

King Max and Alicia were watching the news inside the science lab. A reporter was covering the action at the scanner dish. "This evening at around 10:45 Standard Time the Royal Military Scanning Dish was destroyed by unknown means. The obvious first choice is the Overlanders. Why they would do such a thing is unknown. Of all the occupants of the plant, there were no survivors of this event. All eighteen scanner operators were killed by gunfire."

Max didn't need to hear anymore. He shut off the television and turned to Julius. "Things have gotten very bad, Julius. With that scanner down, the Overlanders could attack at any time. Please, tell me that you have some form of defense." Kintobor smiled. "Actually I do, your highness. Would you please direct your attention to the center work station?" Both royals turned to see when Julian had to show them. "Your majesties, I give you the Special Weapons And Tactics Automaton Unit or SWAT bot as I like to call it."

The machine came out of a doorway. It was eight feet high and had a single red eye. It looked quite menacing. Alicia noticed and said, "Julian, It looks rather frightening." Kintobor smiled. "I know! The main point of this choice of body structure is intimidation. If an enemy sees the SWAT bot closing in on them with its single red eye, it will give them a bit of a fright." Max smiled. "What does it do?" Julian smiled. He loved a lecture. "The robot's movement is completely designed from humanoid patterns such as ourselves. It uses a fluid that pushes and pulls the legs backwards and forwards much like muscle fibers do. It has over 2000 points of articulation and it can be fitted to either hold a weapon or have one grafted to its arm. Also, the robot's top speed is around 50 kilometers per hour." Julian turned to the robot. "SB-X1, run system diagnostic and state your status."

"Unit registration SB-X1 performing systems diagnostic. Stand by." The robot droned. Arms flexed and its eye tracked certain objects. The royals stood amazed. "Motor functions online, weapons systems online, tracking systems optimal. Final report: SB-X1 is performing at maximum efficiency. Awaiting orders." Max clapped his hands and Julian bowed. Alicia just stood smiling.

"Well done, Julian." Max said clapping the scientist on the shoulder. "When can we push them into production?" "Well, sire, I knew that you'd like them so much I already made 100 units." Max smiled still. "A prudent measure, to be sure! By Mobius, you managed to do this all in one week?" Kintobor shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a busy bee." Max nodded. "Well, Julian. We're going to need someone to control all of these robots. Seeing as you're the only one that knows how, I'm appointing you War Minister. We'll be making sure that the post doesn't overwhelm you." Julian bowed. "Sire, its an honor." Julian's glasses flashed in the light. The Overlander was so glad that Max couldn't see his eyes.

Colin Kintobor Senior sat at his study in New Megaopolis. The soft glow from a lamp illuminated his face and cast deep shadows over his eyes. He reviewed the report from the Strike Team sent out a couple days ago. Their operation was a clean success, but intercepted radio transmissions suggested that King Max was building a new weapon. Colin had no idea what it was but he suspected that Julian was the mastermind behind the whole scheme. Weather this development was forced or was of Julian's free will was beyond Colin. However, he couldn't stifle the small thought that if Julian did indeed work for the king of his free will, it could spell bad things for the Overlanders. He pulled out some paper and wrote down several plans and ambitions that they would fulfill if the time came. Just in case.


	16. Chapter 16: Tables Turned

October 15th 3214

October 15th 3214

New Megaopolis

Colin Senior was now acting a little bit more on edge. It had been four years since Julian vanished. He had to assume that he was working for Max and his cronies because, Colin knew, Julian was a smart man. He had an IQ of over 300. If he couldn't figure out how to escape from a castle, he couldn't even escape from a traffic jam. Colin was at his limit. Below him, just about every soldier enlisted in the Overlander's military stood. Tanks and walkers were also present. All of them saluted upon seeing their leader. Colin was proud to have them under his control.

The man geared up. He put on combat armor, calibrated his weapons, and made sure his shielding was sufficient. Colin Junior tried to figure out what his father was doing but the leader shooed him away with threats of pain. The little ones were always so persistent.

The military moved out. The mass of the army was so large that it could be seen from miles away. Colin's plan was now being put into action. Without that scanner in Knothole, the Fog of War would mask the entire army. Three days passed since they left New Megaopolis. Knothole was barely an outline on the horizon. Thunder sounded in the clouds and rain began to fall. Some soldiers griped and tossed away their soggy cigarettes. "Aw, dammit. I wanted a good smoke." One complained. A sergeant kept him in line. "You'll have all the smoke you want when we get there." He said.

Dozens of miles away, the Royal army was getting dug in. Men and women from all species of Mobians were charging rifles and getting their gear on. Jules and Charles were part of this mass. Trenches were dug around the city gates. A flash of lightning came and illuminated the buildings with a blue-white glow. "Christ, Chuck. This rain's gonna make it hard to see." Jules said. "Yeah, just keep your eyes downrange and you finger on your trigger. We'll take care of these guys by dinner." Jules turned to his brother. "Hey, you know Doc Kintobor's machines, you think they're coming out soon?" "If I heard right, Jules, The King wants to keep the SWAT bots as a surprise weapon." "When the hell is he gonna let them out? When we're all dead?" The Company Commander kept them steady. "Alright, boys. Make sure your guns are ready. It's been four years. Four years of battle, blood, sweat and tears. It all comes down to this now." Jules scoffed, "He should be a poet." "Shut up!" Charles said elbowing him. "When the enemy is within your sights, don't hesitate to blow them away. Every single one is a threat to you. Now, I have no doubt, you've heard of our special reinforcements. Rest assured, they will be joining us but only after the enemy seems to have a blind spot. What the hell's the matter with you? You're Marines! I want to hear an 'Oorah' from everyone!" "OORAH!" The soldiers called.

"Well that was inspirational." Charles said inserting a clip into his rifle. "Maybe he didn't have time." Jules said. "What makes you say that?" "Because we got incoming." A few other soldiers looked where Jules was. A small marching sound could be heard and the ground started to vibrate. Squads of Marines were beginning to become unsettled. The Commander called, "Steady, steady." But some were reluctant. A young fox, probably just 18, got sick right in the trench.

A searchlight appeared on the horizon. It revealed thousands of armored troops advancing. "OPEN FIRE!" The Commander called. Up and down the trench, barks of assault rifles were heard and flashes of gas lit the night. Someone launched a mortar. It exited its tube with a small _whump_ and arced through the sky. Overlanders fell quickly to Mobian bullets. The mortar impacted on the ground and tore an entire squad to pieces.

Walkers towered over the soldiers and tank. Chain guns opened up and sprayed the Mobian line with lead. Soldiers screamed as lead pierced their skins and blood spattered the ground. A grenade was tossed and a fire team was engulfed in flame.

Jules fired a burst on an Overlander. The man collapsed convulsing and gripping his chest. The firing pin dropped on his gun. "Chuck I need a clip!" Charles grabbed one from his belt and handed it over to Jules. "Thanks, man." Jules said and put it into the gun. He cocked it again and kept on firing.

A walker was taken down. A direct mortar strike blew its leg off and it fell, crushing three other Overlander soldiers. The men were lying asking for medics to pull them out under the immobile unit. A sniper picked off three consecutive Mobian targets before getting a bullet through the scope for his trouble.

The rain still hadn't let up even at midday. The soldiers weren't relieved because it could cause a break in the line and give the enemy a chance to attack. Most men's hands were numb from constant firing. This made them easy targets for enemy sharpshooters. Soon, Colin Kintobor himself appeared on the battlefield, although few Mobians knew it. He heaved a rifle in his hands. His special armor had shields, which deflected projectile rounds. It was sort of like a bubble encased around a person.

The Mobian line was weakening. A dozen more soldiers were killed in the next ten minutes. Some were on the verge of panicking. The hysteria made them even more scared and they bunched together, only to be blown apart by the tanks.

Colin charges forward. This was it. His army followed him giving a war cry. This intimidated the tired Mobians. More shots were fired and Overlanders fell, but not enough to completely stop them. Colin squeezed off laser rounds from his rifle and killed soldiers left and right. Those that survived were killed by the mob of enemies. Colin took out a sword and sliced through a soldier's body armor and making blood spill from the wound. The soldier fell to the ground and twitched in shock. Colin pinned one to the ground with his boot. He recognized this one. This was the fox that he wanted to kill that day years ago. He was sure of it. He was close enough to read his name stitched on the uniform: 'Prower'. The fox grunted as the boot was dug in, "You don't want to do that, Kintobor. I have a wife." Colin aimed his gun at the fox's head. "So did I." A blast caught him off guard and he reeled around. Unfortunately he squeezed the trigger. The laser blast caught the fox in the right eye. He screamed and clawed at it with his hand. Colin smiled. Even though that had been entirely by accident, he managed to make him suffer. Colin left the soldier to write in pain on the ground. He had done his job.

Jules was out of ammo. So was Chuck. "GODDAMN!" He screamed as he looked for another clip. There was none though. "I hope to God's name that they bring out the big guns sooner or later."

King Max was standing next to a window. Outside, the battle raged on. He thought that he should go and try to fight. But deep down in his heart, he knew that he could not. He needed to be with his wife. It was a selfish thought, though. "Sire, how about we release the bots now." Max turned. Julian was standing next to a console. "All units report operational. We just need your signal." "Do it, Julian." Max said. "Yes, sire."

Suddenly, robots jump jetted over the battlements. The Mobian troopers were in awe. They watched as the SWAT bots buried their feet in the mud. They raised their arms at the stunned Overlander troopers. They each had machine guns on their hands. They opened fire and bullets peppered the Overlander troops.

Colin was stunned at this development. He thought of Julian. How he managed to turn his back on everyone, his own culture, and go to this length, working for the enemy. After a few minutes, Colin needed to call a retreat. Too many troopers were either dead or dying. The soldiers heard the call and fell back.

The Mobains viewed this event and exploded in joy. This was one of the greatest victories in Mobian history. A small army of anthros had taken on and defeated the mighty Overlander military. Jules and Chuck gave each other high fives. It was going to be the beginning of the end of the war.


	17. Chapter 17: Double Crossed

November 11th 3220

November 11th 3220

The war was just about to end. The SWAT bots had been a major strategic success in military production. Within three weeks of the siege of Knothole, the Overlander force was pushed all the way back to MegaCentral and New Megaopolis. This was when the Overlanders brought out their A-game. For six long years the Mobians were kept at bay. It was a ridiculous amount of time for a stalemate to last. But on November 11th 3220, Armistice Day for the humans, the Mobians finally broke through.

With captured posthuman weapons on their side, the anthros quickly cleared out district by district. Enemy soldiers were cut down in large numbers. Women and children were left alive though, as the Royal Army adhered to the ancient law. Victory was close at hand.

Colin had lost. Their Great War was a failure. Not only had the Mobians defeated the more technologically advanced race, but also his own brother turned on him. Shamed and dishonored, he ordered a retreat. But this would be the ultimate retreat. Colin gathered up 21 families; all that survived the attacks (these families had dozens of members, maybe hundreds) and he started a video conversation with Max.

"Well, well, well. Colin Kintobor, I see the years weren't kind to you." The king joked. Colin was fuming. He was letting himself be insulted, and for what, some stupid code of honor. "Max, I think we both want this war to end." The king sat in a plush chair. "Go on," he said. "I am prepared to initiate a cease fire." "For how long, Kintobor?" "Indefinite." Max's ears twitched, was he dreaming? "You want to swing that by me one more time, Colin?"

"I said that I want to end the god damned war for good." "I thought you said that. You're willing to give in?" "Yes." "Is that all?" Julian took another breath. "I'm also willing to leave the planet." Max HAD to be dreaming now. "Hang on, I thought I heard you say that you were leaving the planet." Colin nodded sadly. "Yes, that is what I said." "But where will you go? Space is HUGE, Colin. What are the odds that you find a habitable planet out there?" The Overlander shrugged. "We have to try." Max's face went blank. "You're serious about this aren't you, then." "I was serious when I turned this screen on." "If you are planning to leave, take what's left of the colony ships. They've been fitted with Warp engines. But know this, Kintobor: I give you just ten years. Ten years and you'll come CRAWLING back to Mobius. I almost guarantee it."

Colin took a deep breath and said, "This is goodbye then, Max." "Yeah, I guess it is. Get your people off this planet, Kintobor. And with luck, don't show your face around here again." Max turned off the screen and smiled widely. Alicia walked in the room. "Max, what's going on?" in her arms, she carried their four year old daughter. He turned to face them, "The beginning of a wonderful life."

At noon that day, news of the surrender of the Overlanders spread to the people. The victorious Mobians cheered for their soldiers and partied all night long. Those less fortunate had their names carved into a marble wall in the city park, right next to the statue of Doctor Mobius.

The three remaining colony ships flared their engines. Rivets screeched as the ancient space ship lurched out of system. Colin was on the bridge of the _Enterprise_. He stared around at the dingy electronics and seating. The smell of rotting metal also plagued his nose. The helmsmen didn't seem to have any problem flying the ship so he figured they would be OK. "What's our status?" Colin asked an officer. "Sir, all non-essential personnel have been put into cold-sleep. We're running a skeleton crew." "What about the engines?" The officer raised an electronic clipboard. "Uh, she could use a little oil, but other than that, nothing's changed. Colin took a look behind him. Mobius was slowly shrinking. He exhaled and looked ahead. "Take us away, helmsmen." "Aye sir, jump engines activated."

The three ships activated their engines. They sped away towards the system's edge at incredible speeds. Max had suggested that the Overlanders would return. They would, but not for a long time.

Julian Kintobor knocked on Max's bedroom door. The King answered clad in dress pants and a blue-buttoned shirt. "What can I do for you, Julius?" "Sire, I have to ask you. You said a long time ago that my fate would be decided after the war was over. Well, here we are." "Julius, I decided your fate a long time ago. You're a free man." Kintobor blinked. "I…I am?" "Yes of course, you've proven yourself loyal and you helped us win the war, and you've been an excellent confidant." "I thank your, your highness." "Dispense with the formalities, Julian." Kintobor nodded. "Thank you. Max. If I may make a request?" "Go ahead." "Sire, I would like to request the citizens move to the other cities. Knothole is greatly overpopulated." Max blinked. "Julian, that's an odd request. Why on earth would you say that?" "Nothing, sire. It's just; I took a look at the demographic stats and the city's carrying capacity is way over since 2890."

Max called up the file on his portable. There was a drastic spike in population. Ever since the war, citizens have been breeding like crazy since people thought soldiers were dying non-stop. When they returned, the unemployment rate and homeless rate also grew. "It appears you have a point, Julius. Very well. I'll put through the request to move the citizens to other cities. Which one did you have in mind?" "MegaCentral, sire. I also believe that it would be a smart place to reestablish government there." "Why, Julian?"

"Well, sire. MegaCentral is my home, so I know why. The city is a technological marvel. There are machines there that Mobians haven't even got close to developing. Also, it's a way that you can start repairing the planet." Max raised an eyebrow. The lure of protecting the environment again was a very tempting thing. So, he gave in. Within a few months, Knothole was once again, just a colony and the new capitol of the world was MegaCentral, or as Max renamed it, Mobotropolis. Just like that.

It should be known at this time that Julius was planning something. I'm sure all readers realize this. The exact specifications won't be revealed at this moment but rest assured, it would occur.

Max was uncomfortable at first in the huge citadel that originally belonged to his enemy. There was a lot of metal here. Max also winced a little as he spotted fur carpeting in some room. He put this aside as he immersed himself in technology unlike any other. Almost 90 per cent of Knothole's citizens migrated over to their new city. That was almost a total of ten million citizens in the GKA (Greater Knothole Area) also; some Mobians from other continents also came. Within a few short years, Mobotropolis was a world-renowned city.

Three years later, Julius saw his moment. He secretly activated the city's defensive perimeter. All around Mobotropolis, doors slid close, locked and a shield activated that kept air units out. But just as well, nobody could get out. A few guards noticed this affect while standing at a border.

"Hey, what's going on here?" one shouted. The other raised his weapon. "Are we under attack?" Suddenly, a SWAT bot standing next to them activated. "What the hell, did you turn that thing on?" The robot stated, "SWAT Automaton Unit TK-461 activated. Targeting organic opponents." The guards' jaws dropped. "What did that thing just say?"

Suddenly, the robot swiped at one of the surprised guards. The metal limb launched him in the air and sent him flying a hundred feet into a building. The metal dented and bones broke. The man fell down on a car and didn't move, dead. The other started to run, but the robot shot at him five times, each one passing through his back. Bone, blood, and organs exploded out of his chest and he died instantly. Citizens saw the event and started running. Several other Units responded to their activation, codenamed 'Order 66'.

King Max couldn't believe what he was seeing. Everywhere citizens were being brutally killed by the rampant SWAT bots. "What's happening?" He asked himself. He heard a clack behind him. "I'll tell you what's happening."

Max spun around and there was Julian Kintobor with a gun in his hand. The weapon was aimed squarely at Max's head. "Julian, what do you think you're doing?!"

"Exactly as I planned, Max." "Wait, you planned this?" "Right from the day you captured me." "You sneaky bastard. You made the SWAT bots and you installed a feature to make them turn on us." "We have a winner!" Julian laughed. "There's also one more thing I was working on but I haven't found the time to use it. Want to know what it is? Tell me you want to know what it is." Max stared at the gun barrel. He could count the grooves on the inside and he could barely make out the shape of the bullet: .50 AE round. Big bullet, death would be instantaneous and his brains would be splattered over the better part of a mile when blown off the citadel.

"OK, Julius. What have you been working on?" "It's only a little thing. Remember those two soldiers who captured me?" Max's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you…" Suddenly, a screen lifted and a clear tube was visible. "This, my liege is the Roboticizer!" "The what?" "This thing is a machine that can turn living beings into metal, mindless cronies! The original idea is almost a thousand years old but recently I've been able to manifest it into a machine form. I'll show you how it works, come on!" Two SWAT bots entered with machine guns grafted on their arms. They led one prisoner. It was Jules the hedgehog. He was wearing shackles on his wrists and his military tank top was burned in some placed. A single gash ran from his ear to his jaw. He wasn't scared.

One of the robots opened the door. "Enter." Is said in a metallic tone. Jules didn't protest and stepped inside. The robots sealed the door and Kintobor pressed a button. A fan-like thing on the top of the tube rotated quickly. A few magnetic sparks came and connected themselves with Jules' body. His composure was suddenly gone and he was screaming uncontrollably. Max tried to look away but felt he couldn't. Suddenly, patches of Jules' skin seemed to strip away and metal was seen underneath. Every single part of the hedgehog's body was being tuned to metal. It was a sound that would haunt Max for years to come. After a few minutes, the Machine was stopped and the door opened. All that was left of Jules was a metallic form to take his place. It slowly paced out. Its boots pinged in the floor. "I live to serve, my lord." The thing that was Jules said in a metallic voice. "Funny thing about free will, Max. It can be snatched away in a meager second if you do it correctly."

The king drew his sword and lunged towards Julius. The doctor sidestepped it despite his weight and the blade plunged into the machine console. The blade suddenly glowed brightly. Julian was awe-struck. "I don't believe it." He said quietly. He fired a round at the King. Max blocked the round and it deflected off his sword with a whining ricochet. His legs suddenly have way as Jules swiped them from underneath him. The helpless robot kept on delivering punches and kicks to Max's skull. The King felt something crack in his spine and he immediately rolled out of it. He stood and spat blood out of the corner of his mouth and raised his sword. Before he could swipe, the robot delivered a roundhouse kick that launched Max out of a window. The shards cut his back and tail. Max plunged the blade into the side of the citadel just in time.

The king stared down thousands of feet and felt vertigo. Sweat dripped off his fur and fell out of sight. The window was too far away to make a leap back and Julian's SWAT bots would be out here any minute. The only plan was a suicidal one, but his only hope. He tried to make the sword loose in the metal. When he did, he fell. Max free fell for nearly a thousand feet before plunging the sword back into the tower. Blood rushed back to the rest of his body. A docking port was less then ten feet below him. Talk about close calls. He released the sword from the wall and landed on the deck. There was a slight creak but nothing serious. Max just lay on the metal deck staring at the sky and laughed softly.

After a few minutes of having an NDE, Max picked himself up and ran down the hall. He had to get his wife and daughter out of the city. This could be their only chance. He noticed that a piece of glass cut him on his leg and he limped slightly. He overlooked the injury and kept on running.

"Alicia, we need to get out of here!" he yelled as he entered his chambers. Alicia leapt up and ran to her husband. "Max! You're bleeding!" "There's no time for that, Alicia! We need to leave the city!" the Queen blinked at him a few times. "I…I've heard rumors that there was some sort of rebellion outside. I never brought myself to look though." Max shrugged. "Well, it's true. Get Sally and we'll try to find a way to get everyone out of this damned city." She nodded and ran to find her child. Max on the other hand scouted around his room and found the components of his machine pistol. He inserted his mechanism and spring and racked the slide. There would be no chances here. Alicia returned with her little girl: she had red hair, blue eyes, and she looked a lot like her mother in appearance. Little Sally Acorn was only seven at this time and had absolutely no idea what was going on. When she saw her father's gun, she cowered slightly and her ears tipped downward.

Max consoled his daughter. "It's alright, Sally. We need to leave." She stared at her with the same deep blue eyes her mother had. "What? But why?" Max thought to himself, _how do you explain such a thing to a child?_ He finally said, "Julian was a bad man. We shouldn't have trusted him." She stared at his leg. "Daddy, you're bleeding." "Everyone's noticing today." He said half irritated. "Now come on, we need to find as many people and leave the city!"

There was mass panic in the streets. Citizens were running every which way. Some lay dead or dying on the ground in broken, twisted positions, and the smell of gunpowder and burned ozone hung in the air. Young Sally shielded her eyes when she saw the dead people, how they did not move or talk or blink, and how they had blood coming out of huge holes. The King managed to call an audience. It was a small group. He doubted that a million people showed up. He explained the situation thoroughly to them. All they needed to do now was find a place the shield did not cover.

"Max, this may not be the best suggestion from me, but have you thought about the sewers?" Alicia suggested. Max raised an eyebrow. "You're right about that not being the best suggestion from yourself, you clean freak. But you're also right about the shield not going into the sewers. Ironic actually, Julian thinks we're trapped like rats, and we're sneaking out right under his feet." Max told the survivors of this plan. They all at once rallied and made their way to the nearest manhole entrance.

Inside the sewers, the smell of centuries of decay hung in the cramped corridors. It was more than enough to make a man noxious, but the survivors held on, determined to achieve their freedom. At last, light began to show through a hole at the end. Max smiled as he led the Mobians through the hole and into fresh air.

They were actually quite away from the city when they exited the sewer. Mobotropolis was only a cluster of buildings in the distance. Max lifted her daughter up. She was smiling too, but it drooped when she asked, "Where will we go now, Daddy?" Max laughed. "The one place we can go!"

It was a long journey back to Knothole. The survivors kept to the tropical and arboreal forests. There, they could find fruits and meat to help them survive. Fresh water wasn't hard to come by. The Overlanders only polluted their hemisphere. When the Mobians reached the middle of New America, there were dozens of lakes untouched since the humans were here many long years ago.

A month of traveling finally yielded some results as they reached the familiar valley in which Knothole was placed. Many people were glad to see their home again. Some ran down the ridge to familiarize themselves with the area again. But it was young princess Sally as she saw the palace in the center of the city. The afternoon sun accented its spires and the flags flapped in the air current. Her eyes brightened and said, "Wow! I get to live in a palace?" Alicia laughed. "You sure do, honey. This was the place your father and I- everyone grew up in. It's your new home."

The Exodus from Moboropolis was one of the most important factors in developing Mobian history. Knothole Kingdom would only see 20 percent of its inhabitants return to her loving embrace. Julian Kintobor who changed his name to Ivo Robotnick captured the other 80 percent. Ovi was his middle name and Kintobor was his last. He just switched the two around. In the later years, Mobotropolis would be changed to Robotropolis, the capital of Robotnik's evil efforts on Mobius. His mindless slaves would build his war machines and the SWAT bots were his foot soldiers. In a few short years, Dr. Robotnik would take over almost every single continent of Mobius. But few brave individuals resisted.


	18. Chapter 18: Freedom Fighters

May 20th 3227

May 20th 3227

It was a beautiful day in Knothole. It was _always_ a beautiful day in Knothole. The air was always clean, birds were always singing, and no crime plagued the city streets. Princess Sally Acorn liked this. Its what made her kingdom a place worth living. Sally just had her 13th birthday a short while ago and it felt great to be a teenager. She finally got into older movies and could play older video games. But it was more than that; she was one step closer to being Queen when she turned 18. The thought swept through her like a fresh breeze.

Sally had come outside today for a few reasons. One, to take a nice nature walk, two, to get away from her studies (her parents would be strict if they found out she was not doing her homework), and three, she had called a meeting with an old friend.

Mobians believed in a certain myth called 'The Coming of the Ancients'. The Ancients, of course, were humans. The legend detailed that Mobians were actually descended from Homo sapiens that came from Earth just a little more than a thousand years ago in an attempt to achieve a better understanding of life and attempt to peacefully colonize other worlds. While this was a historical fact, some were skeptical and say that Mobians were a race all their own since human history was wrought with periods of great wars of death and destruction. Sally was a believer in the legend and so were her parents, and every day she prayed that they would find her people stranded here and reconnects the Mobians to civilization.

Some people didn't believe the legend and believed humans were related to Overlanders rather than the fair Mobian folk. And to be frank, the Overlander and Human history was pretty close.

A blur shot past Sally. Her vest was caught in the wind and billowed slightly. She wasn't afraid of the blur, as it was one of her oldest friends. The blur made another round and stopped right in front of the princess. When it stopped, there stood a blue hedgehog with stunning green eyes. "Sonic!" Sally said with an air of happiness. "Hey, how have you been?" Sonic asked. " I've been fine recently. How about you?" "Ah, I've been better." He turned to face her. "So, what did you call me here for?"

"Well Sonic, let me start from the beginning. Ever since Eggman started attacking us, I've been given a sense of 'responsibility' of a sort. The military sure isn't doing a good enough job of stopping these guys, so…" Sonic's ears twitched. "Yeah?" "So, I was thinking that we should start our own resistance movement." To her surprise, Sonic laughed.

"Sal! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard. You're kidding right?" "No, I'm not!" she protested. Sonic scoffed. "Princess, We're just kids. We have no say in this matter, let alone for a resistance group. We could go and get ourselves killed." It was Sally's turn to scoff. "This coming from you? You're the one who always fanaticized of sky-diving without a parachute!" Sonic smoothed his quills coolly. "Yeah, well, this is different. Who are we going to have fight these robots?" "Well, us."

Sonic's jaw dropped. "US?!" Sally shrugged. "Well, not _just_ us. I was thinking of getting some of the guys involved. I even have the perfect command center." Sonic scoffed. "You have a command center?" "Yeah, follow me, I'll show it to you." She grabbed his hand and ran out to the forest.

"Where are we going?" Sonic asked after a few minutes. Sally said, "You'll see." After a few minutes of running through the forest, they found a secluded tree stump that was hollowed. "That's our hiding spot?" Sonic asked. "What the hell are you? Two?" Sally smirked as she walked closer. A hatch opened in the stump, which revealed a ladder with emergency lights activated. Sonic's jaw dropped. The only thing he could manage to say was "Whoa."

The two climbed down into the earth for a little while. Soon, they were in a huge cavern. It could be compared to a military bunker and that was exactly what they found. There were old computer terminals that still hummed with life, maps of the planet, tactical screens. There was also a recreational aspect to the base. In another room, there was an ancient couch, a metal table and chairs and a few bunks.

"What…what is this place?" Sonic asked in great surprise. "I don't know. I haven't known it long enough to give it a name. It looks like humans built it." She crossed over to a computer terminal and leaned over it. She glanced at a golden eagle with its wings stretched skyward. It was standing over a globe with four letters on a banner below it. "What do you think 'UNSC' stands for, Sonic?"

The hedgehog stepped away from the console. "Probably a military that kills innocent people." Sally rolled her eyes. "Sonic, don't start this _again _for God's sake."

Sonic started to make his way to the ladder. "You shouldn't have brought me here, Princess. I want no part in anything these humans used." "PLEASE!" She said chasing after him. "I need you to do this! You're the only one that can help us." "That's exaggerating, Princess." "Well, OK, but I still need your help." "I'm not going to help out. That's final. _Capisci_?" Sally drew one last weapon. She knew it would work on him. "I'll let you be leader."

Sonic drew his hand to his jaw in thought. In truth, he already decided but the mock gesture had the same effect. "Princess, you have yourself a done deal." Sally smiled. "Good. Now, Mr. Leader, we need a name." "How about the Freedom Fighters?" Sally scoffed. "That's not very original, Sonic. It's been used hundreds of times in history." Sonic shrugged. "I know, but it describes our purpose pretty well, doesn't it? Fighting for freedom from Eggman?" Sally nodded. It was unoriginal but it was perfect. "OK, then. The Freedom Fighters it is." She shook his hand. "Let's give these guys something to fear."

For the next few years, the Freedom Fighters started small with only a few members. A few of the Princess' friends joined in. Most notably was Sally's long-time friend Bunnie.

By 3230, the Freedom fighters had grown to a size of 10 members. It was mainly an underground operation sometimes without the consent of the king and queen. Flash raids were done on robot facilities. Even though they were teenagers, they had done what elite military battalions could not: They effectively hurt the enemy in every way they could. And more importantly, they kept Eggman's hands off of those tiny little jewels, the Chaos Emeralds. If the doctor got hold of them, it could spell disaster for the Mobians, and probably every single life form in this galaxy.

Julian was not happy. The fiendish warlord Robotnik had grudgingly witnessed defeat after defeat after defeat. It was now a personal matter. For years, Julian, or 'Eggman' as he was known as to his enemies, had sent armies of robots out to seize the seven jewels that inhabited this planet, the Chaos Emeralds. He fanaticized that when he got them, he could build unbeatable weapons; drive the machine of war to obliterate the inhabitants of this planet. After they were dead, He would move on to the next world.

Julian had hypothesized that other similar emeralds, rubies, sapphires, etc. existed on worlds beyond his own. He giggled maniacally to himself when he thought of this. The only thing that stood in his way was a group of young punks. The 'Freedom Fighters', as they had called themselves. For five years, they showed up at the very worst possible moment to foil his plans, sometimes without even trying.

And at the helm of it all was that one. Rotten. Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog as he called. Eggman ground his teeth whenever he was mentioned. Just when he was about to control the planet and such, Sonic would leap out of nowhere and destroy what had taken months to build. That wouldn't matter though as preparations were already being made for a counterattack. It would take some time to assemble it.

Eggman oversaw the construction of his new army in Robotropolis. Better, Stronger, Faster robots than the SWAT bots. True, it would take a few years for them to replace his current minions, but when they were complete, they would be entirely unstoppable. He would rule the world.


	19. Chapter 19: The Arrival

June 7th 3235 0724h

June 7th 3235 0724h

RAF Military Detection Array D-26/A

"Heads up people, we have a new contact coming in." The commander shouted to his support staff. Nearly Five minutes ago, a rupture was detected fifty thousand kilometers above Mobius' exosphere. It wasn't like any ship they had seen before. "Can anyone tell me what the hell that thing is?" The commander asked.

A feline camera operator said, "Sir, I can probably take a snapshot of it." The commander's ears twitched in impatience. "Get on with it." "You got it, sir." The operator pulled a spy satellite out of its intended orbit and focused its camera on the spaceship. She expertly snapped a few pictures with the camera on the satellite.

The ship was large. Preliminary scans showed that the vessel was at _least_ five kilometers long from stem to stern. It was a dark olive drab color that was illuminated by the system's star. A golden eagle was painted on its hull near the engines. The letters 'UNSC ' decorated the banner under it. This had the radar operators scratching their heads. "'UNSC'? Sounds like a military." An operator said from the corner of the room. "Yeah, but did you notice, It's printed in English." The camera operator noted.

Suddenly, the door leading into the room slid open with a hiss. Two MP's stared with surprise for a second than saluted. Even their tails seemed to snap rigid. The royal family entered the room.

The trio crossed to the radar commander. The commander himself was a young man and blushed slightly as he saw the princess. She was now 20 years old although wasn't the ruler of her kingdom. Truth be told, she was quite attractive.

King Max spoke to the commander. "Well, what is it?" The commander stammered for a second. "Uh…it's a ship, sire. That much is for sure. We don't know where it came from though." The king nodded. "Show me more." The commander nodded. "Yes, sire. At once." The commander turned around and ordered the camera operator to show the more intricate details of the ship. "Well, it's definitely not of our design. That much is for certain. We have also confirmed that fightercraft are circling the ship, probably on a reconnaissance run. There also appears to be an emblem on the back. Something with the symbol of an eagle and 'UNSC'…"

"Wait, go back to that." Sally ordered. The commander didn't seem to hear. "Excuse me, your highness?" Sally spoke more pronounced this time. "Go back and look at that emblem." The commander then nodded and told his cameramen to position the satellites again.

"What are you doing, Sally?" Queen Alicia asked her daughter. "I read something somewhere: an emblem with an eagle on it. It was of human origin. It had 'UNSC on it."

"We have cameras, your highness." The ship snapped into view again. The golden eagle was plainly visible. And right below it, was the exact same acronym.

"By Mobius, it's them." Max said with a look of wonder on his face. He looked around to the men in the room. "What are you waiting for? Get a ship up there, open a line. I want them to get down here now!" Just before anyone could do anything about that, a voice came from the speakers: "_To anyone receiving this transmission, this is the UNSC _Indomitable_ broadcasting on all Alpha Priority channels. This is Admiral Gerome Andsworth of the 7__th__ Sol Battlegroup. Please respond! We are low on oxygen and supplies. Please respond, over._"

The COM room was quiet. Not only was this man human, but he mentioned 'Sol' Because all Mobians had taken Earth History, they knew that Sol was the name of the G2V sequence star that Earth orbited. Either this man was from the planet himself or was protecting it. Either way, this was a great moment. Two races about to be reunited after over 1000 years of seclusion.

Max stared at the COM officer whose jaw hung open. "Answer him!" Max demanded. The officer yipped in surprise and fumbled with the communication gear. He placed the earphone over one ear and the mike near his muzzle. "Roger that UNSC _Indomitable_, this is RAF Military detection array. It's very good to see you at last, sir."

"D'you think he understood me?" The officer said. He was sweating slightly and his tail started to shake nervously. "I friggin' hope so. You were speaking goddamned English for Christ's sake." Another officer said. The commander quelled the argument. "Shut the hell up, both of you. We want to hear their response.

"_Uh…Roger that RAF base, this is Lieutenant Junior Grade Jack Velo of the UNSC _Indomitable_ Supercarrier. I'm speaking for my admiral at the moment._" The message crackled through. Evidently this ship had slight damage to her COM systems. She seemed damaged since atmosphere leaked from a few holes in her hull. "Sir," the COM officer said to the king, "I have Captain DuLand of the _Dignity_ that can link up with them in orbit. Should I patch her through? She heard the conversation." Max nodded. "Sure. Let her go and meet them." DuLand's voice came through the speakers.

"_Roger that Lieutenant Junior Grade Velo. This is Captain Jan DuLand of the Mobian Cruiser RSS _Dignity_. May I ask where your position is up there, sailor?_" Velo answered, "_Captain DuLand, I'm uploading our positions to your ship. You can…err…read English?_" "_It's our native language, Velo. I think we'll have no trouble._"

Velo laughed a little bit. DuLand kept asking questions about the ship, like where the crew was from, technical aspects of the vessel, and even the smallest and most insignificant detail such as what color clothing the uniform comprised of. It had a few of the COM officers rolling their eyes in the room. "_OK, Velo. I guess I can conclude that you are not robots and are totally human._" "_Wait a second, we never said that we were human. How did you know?_" Jan laughed. "_Human, human, human. All that will be explained once we establish a rally point for docking. Which leads me to the query, I ask for permission to board the _Indomitable_. One last question: What is the atmospheric makeup on your ship?_"

Jan asked that one because she wanted to know if it was safe to enter without a pressure suit. Humans could have evolved in 1000 years. "_Uh…21 Oxygen, 78 Hydrogen, and 1 argon. It's basically our own atmosphere from home. Hang on, I'll pass this onto my CO._"

The channel went silent for a few seconds. The Com team could hear the faint noises of a conversation taking place in the background but nothing very clear. "_Control, this is DuLand. I'm free of the cloud cover, moving in on the _Indomitable_, over._" There was silence from the Indomitable.

Jan Duland said to the quiet ship, "_I can see you don't trust us, Admiral. What's the problem?_" "_It's just a formality, Captain. We were just in a fight and we really don't want this to turn into hostilities._" The Mobian captain laughed and swished her tail happily. "_Admiral, you have my word as a Commander that we will show you utmost respect. You are quite revered here, human._" A single word came from the surprised admiral: "_Really?_" "_No jokes, Admiral. Now then, If I may ask you to activate your docking ring to let the two ships dock. Also, I'm a little bit unfamiliar with Human ships, especially ones over 5km long. Can I have an escort?_"

"_Sure. Actually, there's a Lieutenant only two corridors from the Starboard docking ring. He can be your escort. His name is Vennettilli._"

Sally shuddered slightly. Like an age old instinct. She had read her family history before as all Royals did. She recovered one of her ancestor's diaries. Nicholas Acorn. In one entry he listed,

_Three Figures stood before me. I had to be dreaming since I had no visible body, but I was livid, I knew I was not awake. The lead one was a young Mobian. She looked almost exactly like me. Sally Acorn was her name. She had Mom's hair and eyes. Deep scarlet and blue respectively. She had my family sword with her, strapped on her back. The second was a fox. Except he had twin tails. He seemed to hover a few times with the two tails like a helicopter rotor. The third was the one that interested me: A young man, barely more than 20 stood in the back heaving a strange assault rifle. The dream was so clear I could read the ammunition numbers on the digital readout just above the barrel. He wore sunglasses, even when he was indoors. A cap was on his head with an eagle. All his clothes were military green. The female called him by his first name, Chris. His last name was Vennettilli. He reminds me of Donny. But this can't be. Donny's been dead for eight years and he had no children. Where did he come from? Where _will_ he come from? Maybe it was all just a dream,_

_Nicholas Matthew Acorn, April 4__th__ 2212 _

Sally's eyes grew wide as she recollected the diary. She thought it was just a dream and none of it was real. But now with the Humans' arrival and the man in the dream, she was forced to believe the impossible. Things were about to change for her, the humans, and everyone on the planet. For better or for worse, she was ready for them.

/End Transmission/


	20. Chapter 20: Epilogue

This is where the trail ends

This is where the trail ends. 1000 years of history ends on this one fateful day. Princess Sally Acorn and the inhabitants of Mobius have gained new allies, stranded in their home universe unable to return to their own. Dr. Robotnik will discover the Earthlings and will wage war, a war that would last for many years and destroy many lives both Human and Mobian. Tensions would arise as Sonic the Hedgehog, leader of the Freedom Fighters, met with the humans and stared at them in disgust. He hated everything about them, from their hairless bodies to the weapons that they wore on their belts. Love would be found, death would be experienced, prophecies fulfilled, and courses of history altered. Like the Shield and the Sword, they will fight and defend for their lives.


End file.
